Phantom Raven
by magicmumu
Summary: Born a metahuma herself, Gabby has to learn to use them well when she discovers a robbery about to happen. She meets the legendary Huntress and a romance occures beneath the masks. HelenaGabby femslash warning
1. Prologue

The Phantom Raven

by Erin Griffin

Rating: For now, PG

Pairing: None yet (but getting there)

Disclaimer: I wish I did, but I don't own the Birds of Prey (otherwise there would be major subtext in every episode, heh heh heh heh heh...).

Summery: Born a meta human herself, Gabby Andrews struggles to make sense of her gifts as she tries to make it in the real word. When a conversation is overheard, she is forced to put on a mask to hide her face as she goes out to save the day. She meets Huntress and a romantic adventure begins.

Author's Note: Dedicated as Always to Angel. Love ya' baby. That being said, please enjoy the story. I am sorry if these chapters seem short. (They seemed short even as I was writing them out.)

Prologue

"So, you wanna some over to my house this weekend? I've got a couple new DVD's I haven't watched yet." I asked my best friend Dinah Redmond as we walked to the last class of the day, which was P.E.

"Can't. I have to help Helena clean out her apartment, and knowing how she lives, we'll NEED the whole weekend." Dinah giggled as I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Okay, what did you 'borrow' this time?" I asked, knowing that she'd only hang out doing work at Helena's house if she was being punished for 'borrowing' some article of her adopted older sister's clothing. I know for a fact that is wasn't one of her leather jackets that she's known to always wear, otherwise I wouldn't have been talking to her, as Helena would have beat her to the ground.

"Nothing," she lied. I looked at my mysterious friend.

"Mmm-hmm." I murmured. "C'mon, fess up." Dinah rolled her eyes at me in annoyance.

"Alright, Helena let me borrow this shirt she made that had the Thundercats on the front-"

"The one you were wearing yesterday when you slipped in the mud during soccer because you weren't watching where you were going while trying to impress Brett Jackson, the Derek Jeeter wannabe?" I rambled in one breath. Dinah playfully slapped my arm.

"Shut up." She said to my smirk. "And yes, that one. Sorta scraped something while wearing it after school and got blood on it. So now she's making me make it up to her by cooking breakfast and cleaning out her apartment." Dinah rolled her eyes again and I grinned.

"Sheesh, with how clumsy you are with your- and HER- clothes, Helena should let you borrow clothes more often so she can make you her own personal slave for life."

"Thanks for the moral support. Anyway," Dinah and I stopped outside of the girls' locker room and waited for the rest of the girls to finish changing for class. We do this so the girls aren't uncomfortable because a lesbian is in the room, though no one would have even known about that if a girl who used me as a part of her experiment hadn't told people. Dinah doesn't mind it when we dress together. She knows I never liked her as anything more than a friend. Helena on the other hand... Dinah seemed to know what I was thinking, because she said, "I bet you wouldn't mind having Helena as your own personal slave."

"Hell no, I wouldn't mind, but my crush on her is not on trial here." Dinah peeked into the locker room after a large flow of girls left in a group. Then, she motioned that it was safe to go inside. I watched as Dinah threw everything into her locker and then tore off her shirt. 'How the hell does she always stay that lean when I've seen the way she eats?' I asked myself. I turned my back and started changing myself for P.E. "So, you think you'll have a chance to see a movie this weekend? I wanna see Gina Davis in her action flick that'll be coming out."

"I doubt it, Gabs. Finals to study for, remember? SAT's and all that." She looked disgusted by the thought. "Sorry." She said apologetically.

"Hey, that's cool." I said, putting my head through the neck of the baby blue T-shirts we had to wear. I was about to pull it down over my stomach when I felt Dinah touch my back.

"Hey- uh, what happened to your back?"

"WHAT?!" I asked, alarmed.

"Yer back... It's all bruised. 'Please don't do this here.' I pleaded, but sure enough, a familiar singe was felt on my shoulder blades.

"Crap. Dinah, tell Ms. Lowry that I'm going to have to miss role call. I'm going to have to put muscle relaxer on my back again." I lied. I knew she wouldn't believe my lie. She had an eerie knowledge for medicine, and she didn't even plan on becoming a nurse or anything like that after high school and college. It used to make me wonder if someone used to beat her, and that was how she knew so much, but she leaves her past behind her.

"For a bruise?"

"Uh... yeah." I don't know if it was the panicked look on my face that made her give up questioning, or if it was the fact that she herself would miss role call that made her leave.

"I'll let her know, but if you aren't out in15 minutes, I will be coming back in here. I'm timing you, Andrews." She called over her shoulder as she left.

"Fine, I'll be out by then, I promise." I watched my friend leave, then trotted over to one of the bathroom stalls and slammed the door shut. I ripped off my shirt and bra, holding them to my front as the burning had become almost unbearable. Then it happened. Both shoulder blades sprouted large black wings like a raven, my left one hitting the stall door. I mentally cursed, wishing I'd run to the handicapped stall, which had more room. I sighed. 'It's too late now.'

I have had this happen to me quite often. Well, not often, but this isn't a new occurrence. It happened for the first time when I was nine and a half years old. I was at home on summer vacation playing with a little girl named Kimberly in the inflatable pool. Out of nowhere, the wings sprouted from my back. Kimberly freaked out as much as I did, then Kimberly calmed me down and told me that she could move water. "Just like Moses" she'd said. So we became better friends knowing we had something else in common. By now, I've learned how to retract them when they come out, but every now and then they just come out on their own. This has been happening more and more lately, and since Dinah and I have become friends, I have this urge to tell her because somehow I know she wouldn't freak out. She would be just as cool with that as she is about me being a lesbian. I want to tell my parents as well, but between telling then I am a lesbian or telling them that I was 'one of them freaks on the news' as my dad had put it, I gladly came out of the closet to them when I was 15.

"Why couldn't you have waited until I got home? One hour- ONE hour, but no, you're more determined than ever to prove how much of a freak I am, huh?" I scolded myself. I moved my shoulders as I usually do to get them to go away, but it wasn't working this time. "Come on, go back in." I whispered urgently. I felt as if I was now forcing them in, and it was hurting more than the burning did when they fought to come out. 'What am I? Why is this happening so often now?' I asked myself as I put my shirt back on 5 minutes later. I walked out of the locker room to join my class and Dinah before anyone got suspicious (especially Dinah, who hadn't bought my lie to begin with).

"What happened; are you okay?" Dinah asked when she saw me.

"Sorry about that." was all I could think to say, "So!" I clapped my hands together, all too eager to start class. "What are we doing today?"

"Tennis..." Dinah said uncertainly.

"Great!"


	2. Chapter 1

FIC: Phantom Raven (1/?)

Chapter 1

Six Months Later

"Andrews! I need you to type up these reports today." Jenna Flynn, my boss, says to me. I smile and nod, wondering how much longer until it's time to go home. Jake Manheim walked past us both in a hurry, coughing out the word 'dyke' on his way. News around this office travels faster than lightning, and naturally, so did the story of how I was hired. I was applying for a dishwashing job at a gay/lesbian club called Club Rainbow just to get me started, but they weren't hiring. The cute blonde bartender I had asked about the application had told me to talk to Jenna, a 30 something business woman who needed an assistant. The job pays well, I have lived the normal life (mostly), and Jenna is wonderful to me. "Ignore him, Gabster." Jenna said, her voice softer than her bark less than 30 seconds before. See? Total sweetheart. So now, it's no big deal, except for the fact that a few people call us Xena and Gabrielle, not the best they could come up with, but it slipped long ago that using my full name grated on my every last nerve. So of course, Jake called me that every chance he got.

I heard Dinah was going to college part time, but she's been so busy with her job as a waitress, I don't talk to her as much as I'd like to. She's been around, though. I'd bump into her here and there, and we'd talk about what we've been up to. We went our separate ways though, unfortunately. Since that day in P.E., I learned how to use my wings. At least, I'd learned to control when they come out and go back in now, though once in a while if I haven't done so in about 2-7 days, they sprout on their own, almost as if they get a muscle cramp if I didn't let them out and stretch them out everyday.

That night, I carpooled home with a few people from the office, one of which lived in the same apartment building as me. I spend time in my apartment (still mostly bare due to lack of things to put in it) experimenting with these wings and trying to see if I can retract them without pain. It seems the more I work on that, the less it hurts, so I know I am getting somewhere with them. That, and the fact that I have learned to stretch them out every morning while I stretch out the rest of my limbs helps. I had to rip slits in the back of a T-Shirt I wear to bed so that I can do this without taking my shirt off. I felt a little mad that I had to do that, but I am sure it woulda hurt like hell if I hadn't done it. Plus, it would just be a pain in the butt if my wings had to fight to sprout out anyway, so I say what the hell, it is just one night shirt.

I was just stretching my wings after flapping them a little (my shoulder blades had felt funny since lunch) before bed when I heard a commotion outside my apartment door. Then I heard a cry that almost stopped my heart. "FIRE!" With a pain filled cry, I retracted my wings, then opened the door and looked around. Alarmed, I saw a fireman bringing out Ms. Rachael O'Keefe's unconscious body from her smoke filled apartment. Another fireman had come out empty handed, and was talking with the first about someone still being inside. 'DANA!' I thought in panic of the little girl of only 4 years old as I pushed past a bystander (I think it was Mrs. Jenkins, the apartment owner, but I couldn't be too sure in the whirlwind of what was going on) and ran into the apartment without really thinking about it. Smoke surrounded me immediately, and I could feel the heat of the fire against my skin, even though I wasn't in the room that was burning. I was on a mission to find Dana. My wings sprouted, and that action seemed to relieve some of the heat from my skin. They started flapping on their own, when normally I had to concentrate to get them to do that. It felt as if the flapping was moving the smoke away from me a little bit, but it wasn't helping me locate the girl. I tried my best to see through the smoke, but it was almost impossible.

"DANA!?" No answer. I had a feeling there wouldn't be one. I found her room, where it looked as if the firemen had ripped the door from the hinges. I felt around, trying to avoid the fire, until I felt skin. I lifted the child, and found she was heavier than I had though, but I still carried her the best I could. I looked for the window. My wings were no longer flapping the smoke away as they had wrapped protectively around Dana and seemed to keep the flames at bay. When I found the window, I knew it would be a tight squeeze through, with my wings as big as they are. Looking back, I wonder what I was on while I was in there. The decisions I had made could have cost Dana her life, but I guess I was lucky. I had put the child down briefly while I found something to break the window with, then I picked her up without looking outside first. When I did look down, I remembered that we were on the 3rd floor. It was too late to go back out the way I'd come. That way was blocked. I closed my eyes and jumped from the window, concentrating hard for my wings to flap. To my surprise, I felt the drop slow and we floated it seemed to the ground. It was a clumsy fall, the last 4 feet to the ground with nothing there to break it, but Dana was safe. I felt to see that her breathing was slowed, but it was there. I retracted my wings in a hurry and found it didn't hurt as much as it did earlier, only minutes before. I handed Dana off to a paramedic, who had covered the girl's mouth and nose with the mask to an oxygen tank. In the chaos of the rest of the building also being rescued from the flames, I ran to a payphone that I knew was in the next street over next to the Laundromat, and made a call to the first person that came to mind, fumbling through my pants pocket and coming up with just barely enough change for the call. "Hello?" A familiar voice asked, but I knew it wasn't Dinah's. 'What the hell?' I asked myself frantically, hoping it wasn't a wrong number that I had dialed in my haste.

"Um, is Dinah Redmond there?" I rushed out hesitantly.

"No she's not since this is her sister's cell phone." I tried not to panic. 'Where's Dinah??' There goes the not panicking...

"D-Do you know where I can contact her? It's an emergency. That's why she gave me this number. I-in case of an emergency... Made me memorize it and everything, that crazy chick- I'm not hurt or anything, but there was a fire a-and I need to see Dinah." I said, trying to hold back my tears as I gripped the phone tighter. Why was I suddenly scared? I was out of the fire- Hell I saved another human being from that fire, so why was I scared? I think I just needed to see a friendly face, someone that would tell me it is alright, even if I couldn't tell them what happened truthfully.

"Whoa, whoa!" the voice on the other end of the line said soothingly. "Is this her friend... the blonde chick?"

"Gabby." I softly corrected her.

"Gabby... Where are you?" The voice (known now after my mind stopped buzzing a little as Helena) asked me, almost as if she feared I was a jumper threatening to jump from the tallest building in New Gotham. I tried to remember the address to where I lived. The adrenalin rush was making my heart hammer and my blood flow at a frightening rate. I took deep breaths, but still the memory of where I live wouldn't come to me until I heard her voice again, a little concerned and on the brink of panic herself. "Gabby?! You still there?" Helena asked. My mind seemed to snap into focus at the thought that she might hang up.

"YES! I- I'm on 4th and Union a-at the payphone." I said in a jumble. She sighed a breath of relief.

"Stay there. I'll come get you, okay? I'll be there in 20 minutes tops with Dinah."

"Thank you." I hung up the phone only when I heard a beep telling me she'd done so first.


	3. Chapter 2

FIC: Phantom Raven (2/?)

This part is unbeta'd due to a mistake I made to my beta reader. Thanks for beta-ing the other two, you did a great job.

The Pantom Raven

by Erin Griffin

Rating: For now, PG

Pairing: None yet, but getting there (How about some subtext instead?)

Disclaimer: I wish I did, but I don't own the Birds of Prey (otherwise there would be major subtext in every episode, heh heh heh heh heh...).

Summery: Born a meta human herself, Gabby Andrews struggles to make sense of her gifts as she tries to make it in the real word. When a conversation is overheard, she is forced to put on a mask to hide her face as she goes out to save the day. She meets Huntress and a romantic adventure begins.

Author's Note: Dedicated as Always to Angel. Love ya' baby. This is a special gift to Dallas. Don't worry, Strapz is coming soon, I promice. That being said, please enjoy the story. I am sorry if these chapters seem short. (They seemed short even as I was writing them out.)

Chapter 2

The Next Morning

I woke up the next morning to the smell of coffee. I barely remembered the night before after the phone call. I just know that I was scared, and that Dinah and Helena were there to comfort me, which was exactly what I needed. Dinah held me as I'd fallen asleep, but when I woke up, she was gone. I slowly at up and looked at my surroundings. On the small table in front of the couch were only 2 magazines. One was a National Geographic with polar bears on the front (but the page number for an artical on tigers was highlighted), and slightly underneath it was the newest Entertainment Weekly with Angelina Jolie and Hugh Jackman on the cover. It was a promo pic for some action/romance they were doing together that is supposed to come out sometime in the new year. I stared at Angelina for a minute, then let my eyes wander around the aprtment. There was a plant on the window sill that looked like it'd gone to hell, and on the wall closest to me there was a poster verson of the painting of Van Gough's Night Stars.

"Good morning. Are you okay?" I jumped a mile when I heard the new voice. I hadn't even heard Helena enter the room.

"Shit, you scared me."

"I know, sorry. I forget that I am a light stepper. So, you sleep alright?" Remembering the way I'd fallen asleep, I blushed a little even though I had a feeling Helena knew it meant nothing. I watched Helena run a hand through her hair. It was a little bit shorter from the last time I saw her, which was at graduation when she ahd Barabara had come to support Dinah (and Barbara was there to make a speech as well).

"Yes, thank you." I looked around. "Where's Dinah?" I asked, not hearing any water running to signal she was taking a shower or something.

"She went to work."

"Which is where I should be." I sighed. Helena let an eyebrow raise.

"Your apartment building burns probably to the ground, and you're worried about work?" she asked. I smiled a little at her small look of confusion. I tried to look away, but for a second I couldn't. 'Look... don't touch, look... don't touch.' I mentally chanted.

"Yep." I said simply. Helena's eyebrows both rose this time, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"How do you like your coffe?" she asked suddenly. "Assuming you like coffee." she added quickly.

"Uh, just a little sugar and a lot of cream." 'Not that you plan on fixing me coffee often enough to remember.' I thought a little sadly. I looked around once more, desprate for conversation while I was there. "You have a nice apaprtment. Does Dinah live here as well?" I asked.

"Thanks, and no, she still lives with Barbara." Helena said over her shoulder at me. She handed me a mug a minute or so later with cats on it. I smiled at the design, then took a sip.

"Thank you, just how I like it." I said, a hint of surprise on my voice.

"Hey, don't sound too surprised. I can make a good cup of coffe when I want to." I chuckled. "Hey," she said, her voice sounding serious now, "I know you and I have only talked once or twice, but you're the kid's best friend, so I consiter you to be a friend as well. You can stay here as long as you need to be here, alright? You know, until you get back on your feet and figure out what's going on." She waved the arm that wasn't attatched to a cup of black coffee around in emphesis.

"Thanks."

"I-I mean, I'm not around much, but when I am, I am not that horrible to be near, and I don't care what Dinah may have told you." She laughed.

I didn't know what to say so I say again, "Thanks," before I drink down more of my coffee to hide my blushing. There was silence that made me a little uncomfortable after a while.

"So... do you need me to drive you anywhere today? I've got the HumV today." That question startled me. Whatever question I may have expected her to ask me ('what happened last night' 'are you hurt' how much damage was done to the building'... ect), that wasn't it.

"Um, no... Well-" I stammered. 'You idiot.' I said to myself as I cut myself off.

"You have 3 seconds to name the place and time, otherwise the offer is dead." She said playfully, holding up her fingers for a countdown.

"The hospital." I say a little firmly to make sure I don't back down on seeing Dana.

"You okay?" Helena seemed instantly concerned, a fact that made me feel all gooey inside.

"I'm fine, but Rachael and Dana were the ones on my floor who were dragged out by firemen." Helena nodded.

"Well, whenever you're ready to go is fine with me." I was eager to go, and since I had no clothes to change into, I just stood up, folded the blanket that was wrapped around me, put it on the back of Helena's couch and dumped my empty coffee cup in the sink. The drive was quiet as I suspected it would be. I mean, we didn't know what to say to eachother, really. Five minutes into the drive, though, she turned on the radio, so the pounding of a techno beat made me feel a little more comfortable about being this close to Helena in the car. My crush on Helena hadn't seemed to fade over time, in fact it seemed to grow stronger since the night before when she didn't hesitate to come get me, even though she didn't know my name. We pulled up into the parking lot, and I was surprised to see Helena get out with me. Seeing my surprise, she shrugged. "I have nothing better to do today. You don't mind, do ya'?"

"N-No." I stuttered, fighting my eyes. 'I must keep them on her face.' "I guess I thought you did... have stuff to do today, but hey, maybe visiting won't seem so bad if I have someone there with me." Helena only nodded and lead the way inside. As I tried to keep my eyes from traveling south, I realized that living under the same roof as Helena Kyle would surely be both Heaven and Hell. We walked up to the receptionist at the Burn Unit of the hospital and Helena put on her charms, allowing us access to Dana O'Keefe's hospital room even though visiting hours haven't begun yet (we technically had another 15 minutes or so, and the receptionist was really for the rules and whatnot). The little girl was watching Little Bill on Nick Jr., a show I knew she loved. Dana saw us though, and her intrest in the TV was gone.

"Hi Gabby!" she all but squealed.

"Hi Honey. I've come to see you, and I brought my friend Helena with me. She wanted to see you too." Dana looked behind me at the older woman.

"Wow, she's pretty." Dana told me. 'Yeah she is.' I thought as I took a quick look back at her. She winked at me quickly before I turned around to face Dana again.

"Yep. So, how do you feel?" I asked her. She shrugged, something she seemed to do a lot lately, and then looked at her tray which had a small stack of colored paper, all with pictures on them.

"I drawed you, Gabby." Dana informed me.

"You did?" The little girl nodded. I picked up the stack of construcion and computer print paper and handed them to Dana. I took a seat in one of the two chairs next to Dana's bed. I scooted closer to get a better look while Helena sat in the other chair, almost covered in shadow. Though this sorta made me nervous, it also made me feel safe and protected. I looked over at Dana. She was pointing to a winged squibble with yellow hair.

"Look, that's you. You fly." She said.

"I wish I could fly so I could have been there to save you." Dana looked confused.

"But... you DID save me. You flew us. You fly!! WE flew!!" she insisted. As much as I wanted to assure her that yes, I did fly her to safety, Helena was in the room and she was the last person I wanted to know I was a freak.

"Hey, do you want some juice?" I asked. Dana nodded, putting her drawings down, but she still had a look that was deturmined to prove that I was wrong and that I really had flew her to safety. "I'll get you-" At that point, Helena had gotten up.

"I'll get it. You can stay here with her, since, since she knows you." I hand her a $5 dolar bill. She leans into me and whispers, "Sorry, not all that great with kids." I try not to shiver at the feel of her breath against my ear. I nodded and Helena left to get the juice. I stared back at Dana, who was watching me. She kept my gaze. It was a challenge to prove her wrong. This was something she alweays did when she didn't get her way, a challenge to see who will back down first. Before now, I always won, but this time I didn't want to.

"Can you keep a secret?" I asked. 'WHAT AM I DOING?!' I wondered, for surely I'd lost it if I was a out to trust a 4 year old with the biggest secret of my life. I couldn't lie to her. For some odd reason, she trusts me, and I felt I couldn't let her down. Dana slowly nodded again. I closed the door to her room softly then looked around quickly. I put a finger to my lips. "Shhh."

"Shhh." Dana repeated.

"Swear?"

"Pinky swear." And to that, Dana held up her right pinky for me to hook with my own. My larger pinky wrapped around her small one. When I let go, I turned around and lifted the shirt I was wearing as the wings slowly came out.

"You CAN fly! I told you!" She said triumphantly. I turned to face the little girl.

"Yes, but you and I must keep it secret." I told her, letting the wings stretch out to their fullest leinghth, as I haven't had a chance to stretch them for the morning.

"Because people don't fly?" she asked. I nodded.

"People don't fly. So if they find out that I fly, they will not think I am a human, but I am. I'm just a little different." I explained as the wings flapped for effect. She watched them as they moved about.

"Can I touch them?" she asked, not taking her eyes from them.

"Sure, why not." I walked closer to her as she pet the feathers.

"Like a bird's." she said in awe.

"Yeah. Like a bird's" I repeated. I slowly let them retract as Dana stoped petting them. Then she looked me in the eyes.

"Well," She said officially, "I like you. You are a good human. You save people." Dana looked as if she was getting tired.

"Thank you. You should get some sleep. I'm sure your juice will be on the tray when you wake up."

"Stay." She squeaked. "Please?" she added, sounding as if she still needed me to protect her. I nodded and sat down. The little girl lay down on her pillows, and looked up at me. "Could you tell me the story about the pea?" Dana asked.

"Lemme see if I remember it. We don't have your book here." By the time I was even half way through the revised version of the Princess and the Pea (starring Dana, of course, and the Prince being a member of Scuba, a new boyband that came out last year...), the girl had fallen asleep. I watched her, thinking over the night before. 'I saved her last night.' I thought. 'I can change someone's entire world with this power. What if this is why I have it? To join these myths that protect the city. Batman, Robin, Batgirl, Huntress... What if they are real? To never be seen but barely known...' Movement of a hand placing a Juicy Juice carton on the tray next to Dana's drawings made me jump. Next to the juice, Helena had placed a chocolate cupcake.

"Kid's gonna be surprised to see THAT waiting for her when she wakes up." Helena said in a soft voice as she handed me my change. I smiled at her sweet gesture. Helena watched the child's breathing as I watched Helena think about whatever it was that was on her mind. Suddenly, her eyes met mine and they seemed almost preditory, but my mind must have been playing tricks on me because when I blinked they were normal and soft again. "Gabby?"

"Hmm?" I was mesmerized, and I know I probably looked like a fool. She seemed almost amused when I looked back at her. I looked away quickly, not knowing what she was thinking of me at the moment.

"You ready to go?" she asked in a murmur. I looked up at her briefly.

"Y-Yeah." Helena nodded, then started walking towards the door. I followed her, rolling my eyes at myself.


	4. Chapter 3

FIC: Phantom Raven (3/?)

meant to post this yesterday, but oh well, a little something extra I guess, lol.

The Phantom Raven

by Erin Griffin

Rating: For now, PG

Pairing: None yet (but getting there)

Disclaimer: I wish I did, but I don't own the Birds of Prey (otherwise there would be major subtext in every episode, heh heh heh heh heh...).

Summery: Born a meta human herself, Gabby Andrews struggles to make sense of her gifts as she tries to make it in the real word. When a conversation is overheard, she is forced to put on a mask to hide her face as she goes out to save the day. She meets Huntress and a romantic adventure begins.

Author's Note: Dedicated as Always to Angel. Love ya' baby. This is a special gift to Dallas. Don't worry, Strapz is coming soon, I promise. That being said, please enjoy the story. I am sorry if these chapters seem short. (They seemed short even as I was writing them out.)

Chapter 3

About a month later

I decided that as sweet as it was of Helena to offer me her place to stay at her apartment, I could not intrude on what she had. Besides that, I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to keep my hands to myself for very long after moving in. So I salvaged what I could from my apartment (which wasn't much) and put it into storage, then I moved back into my old bedroom in my parents' apartment, paying 150 for room and board (since I was only there for less than a month). Dana and Rachael got out of the hospital after their burns healed, Dana being better off than Rachael, so Dana spent a couple of nights with her father and one night with me because she begged for 2 days straight for it. Like she had pinky sworn (should be "sworn") (which to her was like an 11th commandment 'Thou shalt not breaketh thy sworn promise of thy pinky swear.'), Dana never said a word to anyone, telling her mother and the nurses that she had dreamed it, but it was a nice dream. When she was at my parents' house with me though, she asked over a hundred questions about them within the first hour of being there with me (luckily my parents went out to dinner that night to celebrate the day they met at a Jimmi Hendrix concert). I was only able to answer 11 or 12 of them in terms she could understand, if I could answer them at all. Mostly she just asked stuff like 'What are they made of?' 'How long are they?' 'Can you fly me to Florida with those?' 'Would you be able to beat Superman in a flying race?' ect. Anyway, I was relieved to see she was keeping the secret, and she didn't even seem to want to share it with anyone since it was something only she knew about.

I moved into another apartment and have been there for about a week, so things have gone back to normal, or at least as normal as my life can get. I go to work in the morning from 7- 3:45, come home and practice using my wings, or I just stretch them out and just hang out around my apartment. From what happened when I was 9 and a half and from what happened a month prior, I knew that my wings were at least water and fireproof. One night when no one was around Crater Lake apartments (another abandoned apartment building burned up by a fire set by a serial arsonist a few years back... the city kept saying they'd rebuild it or turn it into something else, but it never even got started), I had jumped off the roof a few times and taught myself to land safely when I glide. Someone had almost caught me, and as far as I know, they were still looking out, keeping an eye on what they think they saw.

Work is the same as always. Jenna's starting to get stressed out over something or other, and that has sorta put strain on everyone in the office. "Andrews!" I jumped at the invasion of thoughts as I was doing some work using Microsoft Excel. I looked up at Jenna. Jenna, I have to admit is a very attractive older woman. She was taller than me, about 5'9, and she has straight brown hair that was semi wavy. "Where are you today?" She asked, snapping her fingers in front of my face.

"I'm sorry-"

"Look, can you take this to Jake and tell him I need him to double check this to make sure it's correct? I have a meeting to go to, and then maybe afterwards you, me and Stacy can go get a bite to eat later." I nodded and saved my work before taking the folder from my boss. "Thank you." she said absently before hurrying away. How she could walk so fast in those heels is a mystery to me. It would be nice for the 3 of us to go out to lunch with Jenna and Stacy. Stacy is another chick in the office that I talk to. She is closer to my age than Jenna's (she's 22), but you couldn't tell by just looking at her. She seemed older by the way she carried herself.

I was about 5 feet from the door, out of sight but within hearing range, when I heard the word 'gun', which made me stop cold in my tracks. It wasn't that Jake had said the word (Jake goes hunting in the winters with his family around Christmas in Alaska every year, so he talks/brags about his guns, dogs, and game all the time), it was just the way he way he said it that made me stop walking and listen to what he was saying.

"Listen to me- Dan! Do you... have the gun... that I bought you?" Jake asked as if he was talking to someone dumber than him, which I thought wasn't possible up until then. "Fine, you know where you go tonight. I want you to use it if need be. I don't want to risk losing this opportunity because of some meta-whosits that supposedly protect the city- Fifth and Jackson, you idiot! How many times do I have to repeat that? Seven. Be-CAUSE it will be dark by then. You better be on time. Yeah... Yeah. Shut up, and meet me outside the shop at seven. Whatever, Dumb-ass. Bye." I heard the slam of the phone, then a creaking of his chair moving around. My mind was reeling. 'Fifth and Jackson... What shops are on Fifth and Jackson?' I slowly walked into his office, pretending I didn't just over hear what I had. "What do you want, Gabrielle?"

"I told you to never call me that again. Here," I handed him the folder, slapping it on his desk. "Jenna wants you to double check these to make sure it's correct."

"So how is Xena this morning... GABRIELLE?" he sneered. I tried not to wince at my full name. I still don't understand why he insists on calling Jenna 'Xena', especially since Janna looked nothing like Lucy Lawless, unless you look closely to the eyes. There you can sometimes see a hint of a mad woman waiting to escape, but that is about it. I said nothing as Jake looked over the paper in the folder. I wished everyday that the asswipe would get fired, but unfortunately for me and half of the people in the office, he's good at what he does, the best and the youngest in the state, so there was no way he was getting fired. He knows this better than anyone. "Here, tell your Warrior Princess I said 'Hi'." I gave him the finger as I walked away, returning to my own documents after putting the folder on Jenna's desk in her office. I was back to crunching numbers, which was okay, because it gave me room to think about what I'd overheard. 'So Jake is planning a robbery. Fifth and Jackson... This is it. My chance to save more people. The clerk at this shop could die if this Dan guy is going to have a gun, and a stupid guy with a gun can only mean mayhem, and TWO stupid guys with guns... well...'

Which is why I had to stop them. More than twice, I've asked myself why I couldn't just let the Huntress do it. I came to the conclusion that I couldn't just sit at home and do nothing while the clerk's life could become endangered. 'What if by my being there his life could be saved?' Besides, the Huntress won't find out probably until it's too late... If at all. 'So the Huntress, according to the myths, now wears a mask, though she didn't use to. For tonight, I will get my mask from that costume shop a block and a half away. I will do that at lunch, which means I'll have to turn down Jenna.'

I walked slowly into the costume shop feeling as if I was sneaking into a bar to drink underage (not that I have done that... more than once). I was waiting to get caught. In a way, that seemed like part of the thrill of going to this shop. I had always asked myself 'What if someone recognizes the mask that I bought and instantly think it was me?' I know that would be silly. Being not long after Halloween, many people had bought many different masks, and I am sure the type of mask I'll need would have been bought by many people in costume shops across the state. Yet still I felt as if I would be found out before I could do much good. I already had an idea of what my mask would look like, me already picturing my 'costume' for tonight to hide me away like the Huntress does. I looked around casually, looking for a certain mask, knowing I had seen something similar to it a couple years ago on a Trick or Treater. I finally picked up the mask I was looking for, and went to the woman behind the counter who was going through some boxes.

"Excuse me." I said politely. She looked up at me and smiled lightly, then had a look that asked me what I needed. "I was wondering if you had anymore of these masks in black. I saw some of these a couple of years ago and thought I would like to use it."

"You doing a play?"

"Excuse me? I repeated, this time asking her to explain herself.

"Oh, at the community theater they were holding auditions to Phantom of the Opera, and I thought maybe you were a part of the prop team or something like that." I smiled and nodded at this woman of 26 or 27 years of age.

"Yeah, I am one of the stage managers." I lied. "Only, it's not quite Phantom of the Opera... There's a twist involving a twin brother, which is why I was looking for something in black." I explained, lying through my teeth. The woman was searching through a box she hadn't yet sealed up, and then rummaged through a couple of other ones.

"I know I saw one other one in here somewhere." she murmurs, I'm guessing mostly to herself. "Here it is. It is made of cloth... Sorta... Pretty much, it is that other one wrapped in cloth. I don't know what that is called, heh heh." She finished, looking sheepish. I smiled.

"Thanks. That is actually exactly what I was looking for, thanks." I said. She nodded smiling. The mask was 75 off, since everything was either being sold or stored away until next Halloween, so I had gotten it for less than 5. I wasn't lying when I told the sales woman that it was exactly what I needed. I just wanted to hide my face for that night. If I ever decided to continue to do this… crime fighting thing more, then I would find something cooler, a little more permanent. 'This means I'll have to go shopping for vigilante' wear' I thought as I walked back to the office.

Five hours later, I was standing in front of the mirror, not believing what I saw... who I saw. Polyurethane (fake leather) was everywhere on me as I wore what could only be described as a trench coat with a hood on it. I bet there is another name for it, but there wasn't one on the price tag at Hot Topics. I had pants to match, which were a pain to get on, but I looked hot in them. The shirt I had on was one I already owned, given to me the year before for my birthday by Dinah. I had to cut slits in the back of it. If Dinah knew why, she'd understand. (Unfortunately, I had to do the same to the trench coat in order to wear it properly with my wings, but I did it in such a way that it is not noticeable in the dark. I did nothing to my hair except comb it out and put it so that half of it covers my mask's strap that kept it on. Everything on me was black except for the lipstick I wore which was a dark shade of purple, and I only have it on because it made my lips look a little fuller, so in the face I'd look a little different if anyone were to catch on. I'm sure from a certain distance it would look black.

If my plan goes smoothly, no one will see me walking to Fifth in Jackson in this. I had gone on the internet and looked for back roads of New Gotham, so I would be completely covered in darkness on my way to the robbery (at the jewelry shop, I found out later). "Okay Gabby," I said to myself in the mirror. "Now all you need is black hair die and you can star in The Crow part 9..." Either way, I was ready. As ready as I would ever dream to be.


	5. Chapter 4

FIC: Phantom Raven (4/?)

The Phantom Raven

By Erin Griffin

Rating: For now, PG

Pairing: Huntress/ Phantom Raven

Disclaimer: I wish I did, but I don't own the Birds of Prey (otherwise there would be major subtext in every episode, heh heh heh heh heh...).

Summery: Born a Meta human herself, Gabby Andrews struggles to make sense of her gifts as she tries to make it in the real word. When a conversation is overheard, she is forced to put on a mask to hide her face as she goes out to save the day. She meets Huntress and a romantic adventure begins.

Author's Note: Dedicated as Always to Angel. Love ya' baby. This is a special gift to Dallas. Don't worry; Strapz is coming soon, I promise. That being said, please enjoy the story. I am sorry if these chapters seem short. (They seemed short even as I was writing them out.)

Special Thanks to RYRAIN for beta-ing this chapter and the next few to come. Stacie (SH), I hope your computer gets well soon, lol, and thank you for beta-ing the previous chapters.

chapter 4

Fifth and Jackson

I turned the corner slowly, not sure what to expect. There were two cars in front of the store. I looked both ways, then looked up at the New Gotham Clocktower. Its newest face (replaced a couple of years ago due to vandals) said that it was 6: 56. I slipped as quietly into the store as I could. The clerk was an average man, tall, slightly graying hair that is mostly dark brown, and brown eyes. Even if there might not be anything extraordinary about this man from my POV, I'm sure he's an excellent husband or father to someone... "I don't want any trouble," he says uneasily. I'm sure I looked like the Grimm Reaper, only hotter. That would scare the shit out of me any day.

"Good, I'm not here to start any." Man, that sounded like I was about to do the robbing myself, which is probably what he was already thinking. "Look, there are men out there who are planning to rob the place. At least one of them is armed. I am here to keep you safe." The man looked at me suspiciously.

"How do you know? How am I supposed to know that it isn't really you trying to distract me?" he asked. 'Good point.'

"I guess you're just going to have to trust me. They'll be here any minute."

"How do you know?" he repeated.

"It's my job to know." I lied.

"Who are you?" The shop doors opened.

"Consider me a friend, but it's not about me now." I hissed. Immediately, there were shouts of the two angry men who were supposed to rob the store. Neither of them sounded like Jake, making me guess that he was the getaway guy. As I heard clicks of guns being cocked, my wings shot out as a defense mechanism, I guess. They've never done that before, though they did know to flap when I was in the fire. "Duck!" I said to the clerk, who is gaping at what he was seeing, as were the robbers. "DUCK!!" I repeated in a shout. He did as he was told that time, hiding behind the glass. Any other time, hiding behind a bunch of glass casing might be a shitty idea, but this time was different, don't ask me why, I can't think straight in these urgent situations. The fire was a prime example of that.

"What the Hell are you?" I turned around at the question asked by one of the attempted robbers and gasped. It wasn't the sight of these men or their guns that made me react. It was who was behind them. She stood in the doorway just staring at the scene, wondering how long it would take before either they notice her or I will need her help. She wore as much black as I was, though I'm sure she had real leather on. Finally, she seemed to get bored, even though it was only a couple of seconds that she was standing there.

"She is the least of your problems." And with that the men (minus Jake; where was that coward?) went down in a fury of kicks, punches and ... other fighting moves. I quickly turned back to the clerk, knowing that this new presence to the fight had everything under control.

"Call the police, then run." I advised him. He nodded and slipped out the back way. When I turned towards the other woman again, I saw she was admiring her work.

"I think I got a new record?" she said. "Really? Damn, I'm good." 'Who the Hell is she talking to?' I asked myself. "Gotta go offline for a few. Gotta talk to a newbie here. C'mon... Yeah, I'll keep the earpiece on, but I'm turning off the mic." She touched her necklace, which was in the shape of a bird, then looked at me. I have never seen eyes like those before. They had the word dominance written all over them, yet when they were directed my way, they looked almost protective... Territorial in a way, but not quite. She took a couple of steps towards me, looking me up and down. My wings flapped slightly before settling against my back, resting until they needed to be used again, or until I retract them. "So, you gotta name?"

"I-I can't-" I stuttered, trying to say that I can't reveal who I was, but she cut me off simply by putting a hand up. I was silenced at once.

"Relax. I better than anyone know the need for secrecy. I only meant 'what do I call ya'?" When I didn't answer, she went on, "You know, as opposed to 'Hey you'?" I wanted to throw myself against the wall and bang my head against it. Throughout everything, I'd forgotten a code name! My mind raced with possible names for myself. 'Raven Butterfly, no ... Raven Wing... Sounds like Night Wing, so I think not... Midnight Raven...Not bad...' I nervously touched my mask. 'Masked Raven...' "Well?" she asked me impatiently. I had to give her answer, so-

"I'm the Phantom Raven." I blurted out. I knew as soon as I said it that it sounded lame, but to my surprise the figure before me seemed thoughtful. "And-And you are...?" I asked, having no idea of who she was. I had an inkling, but I wasn't so sure. 'Could it be-?'

"I'm Huntress." she replied, seeming amused that I didn't know who she was. It's not like she was out there saying 'Look at me, I can save you.' We seemed to watch each other closely, both of us looking the other up and down, trying to get a feel for the other without touching... 'But I wouldn't mind a little touching' I thought while my eyes went from her hair (short dark brown that looked like she put a bunch of gel in her hair, then gave herself a noogie) to her mask, which seemed to resemble cat eyes, both outside and beneath it. The mask looked like cat ears, but under the mask, they were slit like a cat's. I let my eyes travel to her lips, down her neck, and- "Like what you see?" I felt a blush fight it's way to my cheeks. Luckily for me, they were mostly hidden under my mask, which was hidden under the hood of the coat, so she didn't see it... I hoped.

"DUCK!" I yelled. The Huntress seemed confused. Behind her, Jake had a revolver aimed at the Huntress' back. I did a move I'd seen on TV a couple of different times, kicking the Huntress with as much force to knock her to her knees, but not enough to blow them out. She fell to the ground where I wrapped my wings around her, holding her head and mine underneath them. She fought me in her confusion, but only I held on tighter. Though I knew she could easily rip away from me and kick my ass, she stayed still when the gunshots started to go off, and they were louder than they make them seem on TV, making me flinch at the sound of each one. After each one, I felt as if my wings were asleep. You know that tingling feeling you get when you try to walk after your foot has fallen asleep? That is what if felt like ... that 'pins and needles' feeling. The Huntress' face was buried into my neck as the 5th, 6th, and 7th shots were fired. As soon as the bullets ran out and all there was to hear were clicks, the Huntress did rip away from my protective embrace and with the same speed she'd gotten to his buddies, she had him pinned to the wall, just barely missing crashing into the display of watches. Jake was terrified. Then his whole body went limp.

"Loser." Huntress murmured, sounded disappointed that he didn't give her a fight. When sirens were heard, I turned and left the same way that the clerk had, hoping that the police didn't have the place surrounded. I didn't know how I was to explain all this to the police, and since Huntress seemed to know one of them right off the bat, I let her handle that as I started to walk home. As I tried to retract my wings, they seemed to hurt worse than they have the last few weeks as I practiced. It seemed as if they were bruised more than anything. I think it was the dodging bullets thing they'd gone through.

"Crap." I muttered. I walked a few more steps before a shadow dropped down in front of me. In the dark, I couldn't see who it was. I screamed, before a hand over my mouth silenced me.

"Shh!!" It was the Huntress. Her hand slowly slipped away from my lips.

"What is it?" I asked her, not sure why she'd seeked me out.

"I wanted to thank you for saving me. You aren't hurt are you?" She moved, but in the dark I couldn't really see her. I could only guess she was pointing to my wings. I shrugged.

"Um, no. I'm not hurt, you're welcome, and I'm sorry for that Xena wannabe move. As you can probably see, I am new to this and everything I learned about fighting I learned from TV."

"Don't worry about it. I understand. Besides, who said TV isn't educational?" I let out a higher-than-normal pitched nervous chuckle, and then there was a short silence as I tried again to retract my wings. I couldn't help the small whimper of pain that escaped my lips as they refused to go in. "So..." Huntress said after a minute when I started to get edgy. I think she can see in the dark, having the type of eyes she has, so I'm guessing she was trying to start a conversation of some sort to make me feel a little more comfortable around her. "Why are you here? I didn't mean it like... Like I don't need you around or anything. I mean, what made you decide to put on the mask and become a superhero?"

"As far as I know, no one would have known that Ja- that jackass was going be there." I said truthfully. Slowly my wings slipped back into my back where they belonged for now.

"How did you know they were going to be here tonight?" She asked.

"I have a friend who says she heard her coworker on the phone. He sounded suspicious to her so she told me about it." I knew she didn't quite believe me, but she must have felt sorry for me because I was sort of afraid of her.

"I like your costume, by the way."

"Oh... thanks. Th-this was only a one time thing. I-I just wanted to hide my face so that people don't try to do lab tests or put me in Arkham or anything while I saved the clerk. Anyway, I-I better get going. Tomorrow's a busy day." I had to get away from the Huntress. She looked the way I felt, and I knew that if I didn't leave then, I would do something incredibly stupid.

"So soon?" She asked in what could only be described as a purr. She stepped a little closer to me, and it took everything to not show my body's reaction. She deeply inhaled, a sounded that made things worse. I think she could smell it, so it didn't matter what I tried not to show it. You can't hide the scent of arousal. Her lips found mine and my mind at first couldn't seem to realize that I was being kissed. I responded a second or two later. The thrill of not knowing exactly whom I was kissing overtook me. Huntress' hands occasionally slipped into the slits of my trench coat and my shirt, and touched my bare skin there. 'Oh god...' She stopped completely when she heard something. You know when you are on the other side of the room as a friend or family member talks on the phone and you can still hear the person on the other line because they talk loudly? How the words are never truly made out, but they sound like the adults from Charlie Brown? That was what this person sounded like. Huntress' hands left my body, one of them going to her necklace. "Okay, I'm on my way." she said.

"Wha-"

"I have to go back to headquarters. We aren't finished." She said, and my body tingled with her silent promise. She gave me one last kiss then she was gone. I went home myself, putting up my costume, hidden under my bed. Then I took a cold shower and the slipped into bed.


	6. Chapter 5

The Phantom Raven

by Erin Griffin

Rating: For now, PG

Pairing: Phantom Raven/ Huntress... just not in this chapter.

Disclaimer: I wish I did, but I don't own the Birds of Prey (otherwise there would be major subtext in every episode, heh heh heh heh heh...).

Summery: Born a meta human herself, Gabby Andrews struggles to make sense of her gifts as she tries to make it in the real word. When a conversation is overheard, she is forced to put on a mask to hide her face as she goes out to save the day. She meets Huntress and a romantic adventure begins.

Author's Note: Dedicated as Always to Angel. Love ya' baby. This is a special gift to Dallas. Don't worry, Strapz is coming soon, I promise. That being said, please enjoy the story. I am sorry if these chapters seem short. (They seemed short even as I was writing them out.)

Special thanks to RYRAIN for beta-ing this chapter and the rest to come.

Chapter 5

Over the holidays I realized that I wanted to continue saving people, but in order to be a good superhero, I have to learn how to fight. Repeating what I saw on a Buffy rerun isn't quite gonna cut it. I knew I could never be as good or even 3/4 as good as the Huntress, but I hoped that one day I'd be able to help her out, and not just by being lame and holding open my wings so she doesn't get shot. So a little after Thanksgiving, I joined the gym with that after Thanksgiving sale that gets people to work off the pounds from their holiday meals. Though Jake's disappearance from the office was no mystery, I pretended I didn't know or care what happened to the guy. Some beginner had taken his place, and though he is scared of Jenna, he is a sweet guy and I try to help him out if I can. Slowly but surely I was getting a little stronger and a little faster thanks to my Tae Bo classes and physical training (which only meant spending a half an hour on the treadmill and lifting 5 lb barbells). I only wished I had a place to fly around without being seen. At home though, I would continue to stretch my wings out to see how far they span, but it is sort of hard to measure them by myself.

On December 12th I bought a fake tree to put into my apartment to liven it up a little for the holidays (even though I was going to be spending some of the holidays with my parents), and sent everyone I knew CD's, including Ms. Gordon, my favorite teacher, and Helena as a way to say thanks for helping me out. I got a computer from my parents on the 20th, since my mother couldn't wait until Christmas Day. I wasn't to complain, though. We all went out to dinner that night, and it was a nice family thing.

It was the gift I'd gotten on Christmas Eve, however, that surprised me the most. It hadn't been an hour since I'd gotten home from the company Christmas party that I'd heard a knock at the door. I was already in bed, tired from the party with a headache from the eggnog (I didn't know that someone had spiked it), but I got up, put on a robe and answered it anyway. There was no second knock. I opened the door to find no one was there, but I nearly tripped over a large wrapped box on my welcome mat. I looked around and saw no one was even in the hall. I frowned in thought, then picked up the rather large box and was surprised that it wasn't as heavy as I thought it would be. I set it on my coffee table and just sat on the couch looking at it. "It's not like there's a bomb inside. No one but me and Dana knows who I really am... and that was only for one night at the time." I said to myself, but still I wouldn't move. Finally, I opened the wrapping, and then I opened the box. On the very top right underneath the lid, was a DVD-ROM (a DVD that has better quality if played on the computer and has better interactive special features that can be downloaded) of the 2nd Tomb Raider. On the cover was a Post It note that said 'Put this in you new computer first.' Whomever sent me this knows that I got a new computer, so I felt better that it must have been a family member, like Cousin Mike who lives in New Orleans. As I tried to figure out who sent this gift to me, I put in the CD into the D drive after the computer had booted up.

Almost instantly, it seemed as if bats were flying out of a cave. The graphics amazed me. I've never seen graphics this good before. For a second I'd thought it was real. Then, a small menu came up onto the screen. 'Click me first', 'C', 'Help' and 'Movie' were what I had to choose from, but of course I picked 'Click me first'. I saw a video clip of a man in a dark blue and black costume, wearing a mask that covered his head that made it look like he had pointed ears. "Good evening Gabby. As you may or may not know, I am Batman, ex protector of New Gotham... then known as Gotham City. Though I no longer protect this city, most do not know that I am still watching, waiting to see whom else will emerge from the shadows and help my daughter bring justice." My eyes widened.

"The Huntress is his daughter?" I asked myself.

"I know you have only started out in this, but I see you've been trying to better yourself without the help of a mentor or trainer. Which is why I have created these gifts to help you. I'm sure you will use them well to your advantage. Merry Christmas." There was black for a second before it took me back to the menu. I was stunned.

"How did Batman know?" I asked myself as I clicked on 'C', wondering what the C stood for. I heard a voice this time, someone I hadn't heard of before, but I didn't see him. Instead, I saw a CGI animated version of the Phantom Raven, only the costume part was way different.

"Here is where I will tell you about your costume. I designed it myself." This voice seemed to belong to an elderly man, and it was softer than Batman's gruffer tone. Deep in the back of my mind, I felt I'd heard this voice before, but I couldn't place a finger on it. "I understand that your powers are mainly dependant on your wings, which sprout from your shoulder blades at various times, whether or not you want them to. This is why I have created what you may call 'automatic zippers'. When the suit feels the slightest pressure of your wings, it will automatically open to let them out." As this gentleman with a British accent spoke, there was a demonstration. This made me think of Dinah, and her small speech about zippers on her first day, earning her the name Zipper Girl for a couple of months.

The angle shifted on this suited body. The woman's arms, legs, and wings moved about. "The material of the suit is thicker than spandex, yet thinner than leather, so it is easy to fit your form no matter what size it may be, though I am sure we have gotten it to your correct size. I'm just saying that if you were to change physically, you'd still be able to fit this suit, yet still be able to meet any... fashionable needs." I had to laugh at that. "The belt here is used to hold your tools and utilities. If you wear baggy clothing, this suit and belt holding the tools can be worn underneath without being seen, which will help in an undercover scene. Conceal your mask in a slightly larger purse, if need be.

"Speaking of which, I have made a mask that is a replica of your very own, but I have made a slight change to it. Nothing major, just a little something to help you see better in the dark, since you weren't born with that luxury like the Huntress was. Though you looked absolutely stunning in your other costume, I'm sure this one will keep you a little bit warmer through the wind and rain. Like your wings, this suit is waterproof. If you'd click on 'Help', I will give you a sort tutorial on how you may use the tools included for your belt." I was wide awake now. I did as I was told, and clicked on 'Help'

"Hello again. In this feature, I will tell you a little more about the tools included for your belt, which belonged to Batman himself." The British gentlemen explained to me (using the other 'me' as a demonstrator) how to use each tool, what Batman had called them way back when, and what situations that may arise of when I will need them. There were a rope tool, a mini blowtorch, a skeleton key, a flashlight, a small knife, and even a miniature camcorder, 'used to record criminal confessions,' he'd said. "I feel I am missing something. Ah yes, I have been reminded to tell you that there is an address that you can go to if you feel you need more training. Pay close attention to the news, and always look for a pattern. I look forward to someday meeting you face to face. Until then, I bid you adieu, and good luck out there, Phantom Raven." There seemed to be a smile in his next words. "Also, just click on 'movie' to watch 'The Tomb Raider'. I am aware of your fondness for the actress who portrays Miss Croft." I had to chuckle at that.

When the menu came back onto the screen, I searched the box and picked up the mask that was lying right on top of the tools. The only physical difference between the mask I had bought and this new one was that this one had a thin clear layer over the eyes. Beneath the mask and the weapons lay my new costume. On the chest of the suit was what looked like an R with wings coming out of the sides. 'Where's the P?' I asked myself as I looked in the box to see if there was anything else in it. To my surprise, at the bottom of it were a couple of tubes of the dark purple lipstick. "Man, they are thorough. Why would the great Batman spend so much time making sure I become the superhero I'm working to become?" I asked myself, or rather, I asked the Phantom Raven, for that was who I was looking at in the mirror at that point.


	7. Chapter 6

FIC: Phantom Raven (6/?)

The Phantom Raven

by Erin Griffin

Rating: For now, PG

Pairing: Slight Helena/Gabby, Huntress/Phantom Raven, just not in this chapter

Disclaimer: I wish I did, but I don't own the Birds of Prey (otherwise there would be major subtext in every episode, heh heh heh heh heh...).

Summery: Born a meta human herself, Gabby Andrews struggles to make sense of her gifts as she tries to make it in the real word. When a conversation is overheard, she is forced to put on a mask to hide her face as she goes out to save the day. She meets Huntress and a romantic adventure begins.

Author's Note: Dedicated as Always to Angel. Love ya' baby. This is a special gift to Dallas. Don't worry, Strapz is coming soon, I promise. That being said, please enjoy the story. I am sorry if these chapters seem short. (They seemed short even as I was writing them out.)

Thanks again, Rain.

Chapter 6

After Christmas was when I really relaxed and enjoyed my vacation. Dinah came over on New Year's Eve and spent the day with me. It seemed as if nothing changed between us since high school. She thanked me for the CD's I'd sent her through the mail, made fun of me for still liking Helena, then started telling me some interesting stories about her, what she's been up to and all that. "Yeah, well it might be your lucky year this new year." she said.

"Why?"

"Helena's gotten goo-goo eyes for a superhero the last month or so." Dinah seemed a little bored as she told me this.

"They don't exist, Dinah. They are just local legends... stories to tell the children so they know they're safe." I said, thinking of Dana as I told that lie. I was trying not to choke on my mug of tea. Dinah, to my surprise, shook her head furiously, all boredom in her posture gone.

"That's not true. Helena's friend Reese down at the police station says that there's a superhero he works with. Some chick who calls herself the Huntress. Helena's seen a picture that Jesse drew of her... Anyway, a few weeks ago, Reese told Helena that the Huntress came to him asking about a new superhero, wanting to know who she was and all that. Reece said he didn't know, since the only superhero he knew of was the Huntress."

"So... Helena's got this friend who works with this Huntress shadow lady, who has now found a new crime fighting buddy?" I asked as if I wanted to get it all straight... heh, in a manner of speaking.

"Something like that. Helena still has the picture that Huntress drew for Jesse of this... Damn it, what was her name... It was like... Shadow Raven- Phantom Raven. My bad. Helena's got it bad for her though."

"So Helena's into chicks?" I was two seconds away from jumping from my seat and dancing.

"A chick." Dinah stressed the word 'A'.

"Lucky bitch." I pouted. 'Yes... Yes, I am.'

"Sorry. But it IS funny, because you should just watch her look out for anyone who could be this Phantom Raven. I feel sorry for her though. Huntress hasn't seen her for a while. It was like one night she's there and the next she's gone." she said. I shrugged, looking as if I didn't care as much about the topic of conversation anymore, even though I actually did.

"Maybe she thought it was cool at the time to be a superhero, but then got to the scene and found she couldn't handle it. If she was new, she couldn't have had much of a clue about what she was doing." I said with another shrug, pretending that I was only humoring Dinah in these theories about something I knew wasn't real.

"She didn't. From what I heard, she seemed to wake up one morning saying, 'I think I will save the day today', but it was weird. It was as if she knew about that robbery Huntress saw her at." It surprised me how much Dinah heard about these superheros... about me. "In fact, she only seemed to care about protecting the clerk and Huntress, she didn't seem to care about being a superhero at all. She had to make up her name on the spot, Helena said."

"So, Phantom Raven... What kind of name is that? Sounds like a name one of the goths at school would use." I said.

"She was one of those freaks you hear about on the news. The name sorta suited her." Dinah looked sorry to say that last sentence. I swallowed down some almost scalding tea, then had another question for Dinah.

"So what does this... freak have as a power then?" I asked. "If this chick is even real." Dinah glared at me. "What? Oh come on, you can't expect me to believe that because a little 'He Said, She Said' I'm supposed to believe in people you'd only see in comic book conventions." Dinah rolled her eyes and ignored that last comment.

"She had large black wings, Helena said, but I bet some things were exaggerated." I nodded and let silence float a little bit between us. I wanted to take the subject away from... me.

"I heard of the Huntress having a semi sidekick a while back. Whatever happened to her?" I asked after a minute or two. My way of saying I'm sorry to Dinah. The best way to say I'm sorry is to let her talk about her favorite subject of the moment.

"I don't know much about Canary except that she took her name from the Black Canary, who is rumored to be- to be dead now. I think they were related, like the Black Canary was her aunt or something."

Dinah didn't seem to like this conversation anymore, so I just said "Oh," and thought over what she'd said.

We didn't do anything special for New Year's. We just watched some program on TV as they counted down to the New Year and we spoke our New Year's resolutions. (Dinah promised to leave Helena's clothes alone, but she's been promising that since I've met her. I resolved to change my outward appearance, but in my mind, I resolved to become a better superhero.) Dinah slept over that night and then left on the 1st at around 2 in the afternoon because Barbara had needed her to help take down their Christmas tree. On the 2nd, I went to the Dark Horse Bar to drop off the shirt that Dinah had left at my place. "Hey! That's mine. Oh, she's so dead." Helena said when she saw the shirt I took out of my backpack. She was on the steps leading to her apartment and she waved for me to come up.

"Oh no." I groaned, climbing the stairs. "Well, now I know she'll hate me for getting her in trouble." Helena laughed, inviting me into the apartment.

"Thanks for the CD's." she said, putting the shirt on a chair in her apartment and leaning against the counter to look at me as she spoke. "I truthfully didn't know what to think of the Evanscence Christmas album even though I'd heard of nothing the CD on the radio, but I found I couldn't stop listening to it throughout the holidays." I nodded.

"Glad you liked it." I said, trying not to fidget under her stare.

"So..." She said after a minute. "Who is Sox 'N' Shooze?" she asked. She motioned for me to sit, so I knew that I was not going to make a getaway for a little while. I'd made plans to go run a few errands before going back home. 'They'll have to wait.' I thought as I sat on the couch.

"I don't know really. I just saw them on 'Regis-and-whomever-he-decides-is-hostess-of-the-week'... -though why I'd waste a day off doing that is beyond me- singing 'Stockings' and Silent Night." I shrugged. "It was either that or Snowed In by Hanson." All I needed to say was Hanson to get Helena to scrunch up her nose in disgust. "Yeah... So I thought you might like them instead." I said.

"Well, thanks. So, how have you been? It feels like you've been a stranger lately," she said. I smiled a little, feeling touched that she'd noticed my absence.

"Well, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be moving into another apartment. I liked the other one though. It was quieter. There are more children in this one, but oh well. Sometimes having them around is comforting. Like on the day after Christmas... it was cute to hear the children play with their new toys... made me feel old." We both laugh.

"How's Dana O'Keefe?" Helena asked after a while.

"She's got a few scars, but other than that, she's fine."

"She still think you fly?"

"No. She realized it was a dream." Helena nodded. There was silence for a little bit, which was interrupted by a knock at the door and the ringing of the phone at the same time. Helena opened the door muttering something about it being Dinah, then picked up the phone as Dinah let herself in. Dinah hung up her coat as if she was staying a while, then plopped down next to me on the couch. A few minutes later, Helena hung up the phone.

"Who was that? Lover Boy?"

"Shut up. It was Detective Reese, not Lover Boy." Helena said, glaring at Dinah.

"So you really do know some of the NGPD." I said, as more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah, she's got quite a few connections there. How do you think she's gotten out of so many parking tickets?"

"And here I thought it was because they think I'm so damned cute." Helena said dryly. I laughed, shaking my head.

"I've got to agree with that, Dinah."

"Of course you do." Dinah said with a cheeky grin.

"Wow, for someone who's gonna die soon, you've sure got quite a mouth on ya'." I said. Dinah's face scrunched up in mock worry.

"Uh oh. What'd I do now?"

"You borrowed my B.R.A.T T-shirt. AGAIN." Helena said. "AND you were moron enough to leave it at Gabby's apartment." Dinah looked over at me as if to ask 'How could you?' I only shrugged. "Hey, it's not Gabby's fault you forgot it there." I nodded in agreement. Helena winked my way, and I just stared. 'Do that again.' I said silently to her. I was jabbed in the side by Dinah, which leads me to believe I was staring for too long. I look at her sort of confused before I glare at her, but she must be immune to them, because she didn't do anything. I jumped up to hide my embarrassment.

"Well, I have to go. Things to see, people to do- Uh, I-I mean- People to see, things to do." I shut my eyes and counted to ten as I heard Dinah laugh at my mistake.

"I actually believe the first one to be true," she mutters, but it was loud enough for me to hear it.

"Shut up." I said, feeling myself go even redder. As I heard Dinah's laughter, I resisted the urge to take the rope tool out of my backpack and strangle her with it. "I've got errands to run, things to do... thank you cards to send."

I got to the door before I heard Dinah call after me, "Hey, Gabs, have you been working out?" I'm not sure if this was her way of apologizing for making fun of me or if it was a little obvious that I have been working out, but I turned to look at her. I'm not sure how she would have seen it now, and not when she was sleeping over.

"Why do you ask?" I asked her cautiously.

"I dunno, you're wearing looser fitting clothes is all, so I was wondering if you were losing weight." I felt Helena's eyes on me as Dinah explained this to me. They were talking about the 1 size too big pink sweater that covered my butt, and baggy black jeans that I had worn over there.

"Uh- well- yeah, I hope so. I joined a gym a while back. Had to lose the Holiday Chub, ya' know?" Dinah rolled her eyes, and I knew she wanted to tell me how not fat I was, but Helena cut in.

"Well, not that you looked bad before, but it does seem as if you're shaping up nicely." Was she salivating? I nodded.

"Thank y-you." 'Shit.' I thought as I saw Dinah's grin. She then got up and walked into Helena's main bedroom.

"Well," She called behind her, "If you are really working on weight training and muscle building and all that for the New Year, then you can use this. Helena, you still have that tape you never watch anymore?!" She called.

"Should be there with the other VHS tapes!" she called back, hopping onto the counter to sit.

"Your room's a mess, Hel! I can't see the carpet!" Dinah yelled.

"That is why YOU are coming over next weekend to help ME clean it up."

"AW," was the only protest heard from Dinah. I chuckled. She came out of Helena's room and threw the tape at me in a discus throw. I lifted my hand and caught it in my left hand in midair.

"Nice catch." Helena said slowly, as if impressed. I looked at the cover to the VHS tape.

"Eight Minute Abs?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at Dinah.

"Happy Christmas, Merry New Year, Hootin' Chanika, Howlin' Kwanzaa..." she said.

"You forgot Solstice..." Helena said sarcastically as I put the tape in my bag. Dinah punched Helena on the arm. Helena jumped off of the counter and started after her as if she was gonna pulverize her. Dinah bolted from the room, and Helena stopped moving as if Dinah wasn't worth the effort.

"You two crack me up." It was difficult to see that they weren't related, if you don't count the fact that they don't look like each other, but they act as if they grew up together (or didn't grow up). I put my right arm through my coat sleeves and Helena helped me with the other sleeve. "Thanks." I murmured, not able to look at her at first.

"No problem. Hey uh... Well, on Saturday night there is a dance party at Club Rainbow, and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me. A-And Dinah, of course." I looked up at her with a deer in the headlights expression on my face at first, and then felt my cheeks grow hot. I took a deep breath and then answered her.

"Yeah. I would love to go with you. A-And of course Dinah." I said without thinking. I wanted to hit myself, but I would look like more of a fool in front of Helena. 'Great, now she knows that you prefer women.' one part of my mind said, before the other side said 'But she wouldn't be asking you to come with her to a gay/lesbian club if she didn't have at least a clue.' Did Dinah tell her? Helena seemed to let out a breath she'd been holding.

"I'm glad you said yes. I-I mean, I wasn't totally sure you'd say yes, Club Rainbow being a gay club and all. I wasn't sure you were into women, but I would sometimes see you checkin' me out, a-and I heard once or twice the way you talk about Angelina Jolie, ya know?"

"Uh..." I blushed. I was wondering what way I talked about A.J. "Yeah, I know." 'You're smart, Andrews.'

"If you're not comfortable with the whole dating thing, then I understand-" 'DATE?! This was supossed to be a date?!'

"NO!" I forced out, making Helena look at me with a startled expression on her face. "I-I'm fine with it. I was just caught a little off guard. I was sorta caught up in the fact that Dinah would be going is all." 'What about your crush on Phantom Raven?' I asked her in my head, then asked myself, 'Why is she asking me out when she likes her so much. She can't know that we are one and the same, can she?'

"Yeah, she wants to go and dance there, since it is the only place that will let her in. Plus, she has a guy friend who is going to be there." I nodded, wondering to myself if the guy friend was from school.

"So, um I'll see you Saturday then?" I said.

"Yeah." Helena opened the door and planted a kiss on my right cheek. "See you then."


	8. Chapter 7

FIC: Phantom Raven (7/?)

Chapter 7

My cheek burned from where Helena had kissed it, making that the warmest spot on my otherwise freezing body. I sort of wandered to New Gotham High School's gymnasium, which was the address that Batman had given me. There was a door near the girls' locker room that was always locked, but directions said to enter through that door from the outside. Like the costume shop a couple months before, I felt as if I was just waiting to be caught by security or something, but I felt I was safe this time. I felt that I wouldn't get in trouble. Otherwise Batman wouldn't have given me this place as an address. I slowly slipped through the door and suddenly felt small. I was in an empty gym when I am used to it holding at least 50 students at a time, running around and doing 4 different activities at once. I walked around a little bit, not sure what to expect when I heard "Identify yourself!" I jumped about a foot in the air and spun to see who had said it. I saw a woman who didn't seem to be real, yet she had all the features of an actual woman. The only difference is, with her stomach showing, I was able to see an actual button where her belly button is supposed to be. She wore a gray sports bra and matching Adidas brand shorts and shoes. Her hair was short blonde, and her eyes were black, it seemed. On her upper left arm was what seemed like a small number pad. She repeated herself in the same mostly mechanical voice. "Identify yourself!"

"G-Gabby." I said. I was about to give my last name when I saw the eyebrows of this woman shift suddenly from a downwards arrow to a straight line, making her look nicer, but still a little creepy.

"I have been waiting for you, Gabrielle Andrews." She looked straight at me now, when before she was just glaring in my general direction. I tried not to show any emotion from the usage of my full name. "A full 1 month, zero weeks, 2 days, 14 hours, 39 minutes and 19.3 seconds in fact. Would you like me to identify myself?" She asked me, cocking her head to the side in a questioning gesture.

"Yes. Uh- Ple-"

"Gr'Nadia25912. Just calling me Gr'Nadia will suffice. That is shorter. Do you like being called a shorter name, Gabrielle Andrews?"

"Just Gabby Andrews is fine." I said.

"Yes." She agreed. She turned around and started walking towards one of the padded walls on the opposite side of the gym. "Follow me, Gabby Andrews, and please keep up." I looked at her with curiosity. Where was she taking me? I watched as she stopped in front of the second mat to the farthest right of the wall and pulled on that mat. It opened to her like a door. Inside that door was dark. I trotted over to her, amazed that it was there. I saw her eyes glow a weird green color and it seemed as if I was looking through night vision goggles. She took my bag from me. "Anything fragile inside this?"

"Nothing that can break if dropped, no." I said. She threw it almost jerkily into the darkness below. I watched as it fell, and heard the thud my bag has made. Inside was a narrow latter that she started to climb down. I followed after her, not knowing how far down we had to go. After 5 minutes and almost 100 steps down later, I reached the bottom. Gr'Naida was leading the way. "File: 4662- lights." She said. 'I guess Clap-ons are beneath this Batman guy.' I thought. Suddenly the lights flooded the room, and I was in awe of what it revealed.

The room we were in was huge. In front of me was a fake building that had to have been a good two stories tall and in front of that was another one that was 3 stories tall. The ceiling to this room (the floor to the gym above) was maybe 10 feet above the roof to the taller play building. On the sides of each 'building' were more ladders connected to it and inside were stairs and a little elevator. The elevator seemed as if it was the newest part of the building as if it had just been remodeled in the last 5-7 years. There was exercise equipment all over the left side of the room, an obstacle course on the right, near the 'buildings', a couple of gymnast bars and rings right in front of me. "Wow." I breathed.

"Gabby Andrews," Gr'Nadia said, "I need you here so I can instruct you, for that is why you've come."

"Yes." She pointed to a chair that she had unfolded, and I sat down, watching her.

"We shall first watch an instructional video." she said matter of factly, but it's not like I was going to argue. She wheeled out a cart that had a TV and VCR underneath it. The TV was already on. Gr'Nadia jerkily bent a little bit, and then pressed Play on the VCR. The video was a history of Gotham City and the myths that had protected it throughout the years. Some had died, some had fallen from grace... Others... Well, they disappeared for good. Though the stories of these fallen or missing heroes were sad, it made me... I dunno PROUD to learn that there were still excellent superheroes out there fighting for justice in this city, and that I was now one of them. The tape wasn't very long. It mostly had that information, and then at the end it introduced Gr'Nadia a little more.

"Gr'Nadia25912, or Gr'Nadia, was created by a B.J Gordon, started in 1994 and completed in 1998." 'B.J Gordon? Any relation to Miss Gordon?' I asked myself. "She was designed to train those who have not a trainer such as the Huntress, some times Canary, and now you. The button on her navel only switches her from having the robotic personality to a more human personality. The number pads on her arm is where you punch in the level you think you need to work at in order to proceed and become better. There are up to 150 levels, but do not let that discourage you. Once you have created a training routine, the levels will shoot higher and faster than you'd ever expect it to." The British voice was saying. Not long after that (after talking about 'the freaks seen on TV'... supposedly called meta-humans or something), the video was over. Gr'Nadia looked in my direction, but not at me. I slowly walked to her, and then pressed the button on her navel. I watched, as her eyes seemed to click on, making them go from black to a light green color. She jerked slightly, and then she looked at me when I shifted feet. She smiled widely, as if happy to see me.

"Would you like me to teach you how to fly?" she asked. "Well, you're the only Meta who can actually FLY, but I think I can teach you. Wouldn't that be fun?!" She asked, almost squealing.

"Yeah." She clapped twice, then walked closer to me.

"Well, you will have to get your night wear on."

"Excuse me?"

"Your nightwear. The clothes you wear when you fight crime."

"My costume." I muttered, my mind relaxing all tension.

"Oh! Verbal misunderstanding. I'm sorry. Now, go change. Chop chop!" I walked over to where my backpack was carelessly thrown and picked it up. I heard the whirring of Gr'Nadia's limbs as she walked, and I knew she was walking away from me.

It turns out that Gr'Nadia's lesson for teaching me to fly was the same as what any bird's mother would do, push it out of the nest (or in my case, the top of the building) and hope they flap hard enough. Freaked out by the push the first time, I almost forgot I had wings when they opened by themselves and glided me to the ground. "Perhaps you should flap your wings next time. It will help you in the flying part, mmkay? Now, get your keester up here and we'll do it again!" Again, I heard her whirring as she walked around on the 'roof' of the three-story 'building'. I grumbled as I climbed the stairs again, wondering when I'd walked onto the set of A.I 2.0: The Adventures of Gigalo Jane.


	9. Chapter 8

FIC: Phantom Raven (8/?)

The Phantom Raven

By Erin Griffin

Rating: For now, PG

Pairing: Phantom Raven/Huntress

Disclaimer: I wish I did, but I don't own the Birds of Prey (otherwise there would be major subtext in every episode, heh heh heh heh heh...)

Summery: Born a Meta human herself, Gabby Andrews struggles to make sense of her gifts as she tries to make it in the real word. When a conversation is overheard, she is forced to put on a mask to hide her face as she goes out to save the day. She meets Huntress and a romantic adventure begins.

Author's Note: Dedicated as Always to Angel. Love ya' baby. This is a special gift to Dallas. Don't worry, Strapz is coming soon, I promise. That being said, please enjoy the story. I am sorry if these chapters seem short. (They seemed short even as I was writing them out.)

Thanks you Rain for beta-ing this chapter. I hope to get more of your soon.

Chapter 8

Though Gr'Nadia may have literally had a few screws loose, she was good at doing what she was designed to do. She taught me how to fly for a few hundred feet, taught me a few basic defense moves and fighting punches and kicks, and even shot BB's at me to build strength in my wings within the first couple of days. As simplistic as her method of teaching me was, I appreciated it, because at least she knew where to start with the training. Two or three days after I had started training with Gr'Nadia I was laying on a mat, since Gr'Nadia insisted I try out the 'instructional video' that Dinah had given me. The video was over, and I just sat there on the mat as Gr'Nadia went to get me 'liquid nourishment' (Gatorade) and a 'sweating cloth' (a towel). When she got back, she handed me the items and then told me I had 4.59 minutes to rest before we went onto an endurance exercise. "My updates tell me to ask if you've been watching the 10 o'clock news." She states conversationally. She always does that. She says these things as if she's searching her files and looking for things to tell me according to her updates, which seem to be updated every other day.

"I have been watching the news." I tell her before wiping my face. The only story that stood out was the fact that there have been a series of brawls at Club Rainbow, which concerns me if Helena, Dinah and I were to go there that weekend. There so far has been no pattern that I have seen. The popular local DJ was seen on the news just the night before telling the anchor that it was horrible and she was hoping that the fights stopped soon. She said she'd blamed the absence of the Huntress, even though the anchor didn't believe in the vigilante's existence.

"I have them on tape. You must watch again." Gr'Nadia suddenly said.

"Why?" I asked.

"A pattern has been found. You must find it as well. Find it, then stop it." She took out 8 Minute Abs and handed it to me. While I put the video away, Gr'Nadia put in a tape that had looked blank from where I was standing. She pointed to the mat and I sat down once more. "Pay attention, mmkay?!" she ordered in a cross between a stern voice and a playful squeal before standing next to the TV as she always did. This sort freaked me out sometimes too, because she was always watching my face or my movements to see if I was paying attention.

"... One of the men could have died." DJ Giggles was saying as she flipped some of her jet-black hair out of her face. There were a series of reports. "Yeah, don't forget to buy the new dance CD comin' atcha next week when I will be promoting it at Club Rainbow. Come on down! Eat, drink, DANCE!" she said enthusiastically. I rolled my eyes, and then I frowned.

"When was that taped, Gr'Nadia?"

"Sixteen days ago."

"And what about that commercial?"

"Eight days ago." I crawled to the VCR and fast-forwarded through the news stories. Some of them had DJ Giggles talking on the news, and a couple of them just showed her in action on her turntables.

"Man, I wish there was a computer with the Internet in here. Then I could go online and look up her schedule..." I murmured. Gr'Nadia's head cocked to the side in a question.

"Have you found your pattern?"

"Yes. I-I think so."

"Explain... Please."

"All of the fights have happened when DJ Giggles was there. I think she has something to do with it." I told the robot.

"Do you have a hypothesis, Gabby?" she asked.

"I think DJ Giggles is using her remixes of these songs using subliminal messages to get these guys to fight... But that can't be right, otherwise more people would have fought each other. Each time, there was only one set of guys fighting, and no one even knows what they were fighting over..."

"Updates suggest that you do a patrol tonight." She interrupted after a while. "Perhaps that will help you get answers."

"Gr'Nadia, if DJ Giggles is linked to these fights, then that means she will be there this weekend. Helena will be there, and I do not want her to get hurt in the chaos." I said, forgetting that she is a bartender herself, one who can definitely take care of herself in a bar brawl.

"She won't get hurt if she has a superhero like you to protect her."

"A superhero like the Huntress, you mean." I scoffed.

"Gabrielle Madison Andrews!!" Her sharp and raised tone startled me, forcing me to look at her. She had started to fold her hands over her chest and her eyebrows went from the straight line to a downward arrow. "I have taught you well," she said, "and you have taught yourself well before you even knew of my presence. With time, you and the Huntress could become the two that protect our city, but for now you have to be on your own, and I see that you can take care of yourself, and you can protect Helena. You can protect all of the people in the club." Her posture changed and she sat in a chair looking down at me, her elbows on her knee. "If I could think or feel or believe... I would know that I would trust you with my life... er... if I actually lived." I smiled.

"Thanks." She patted my head lightly as one would to reassure a child.

"Now... select your level of hand to hand combat and we will train on that." She held out a hand to help me up and I took it.

That night, I walked the darkened streets near the jewelry store on 5th and Jackson, not sure where exactly to start. I mostly wandered around in the shadows, not feeling anything amiss... well, for New Gotham, anyway. I got to 8th and Fredrick when I heard a scream for help. It seemed to be coming from a couple of blocks away; it was so faint. I ran, then let my wings out and started to fly towards the scream. The closer I got to the scene the louder I heard her screams. I landed just behind two men, one was holding on tightly to the woman who screamed, and the other one was looking through her purse. The first man was almost twice my size, and he was obviously the one in control of the mugging. He had the hem of this woman's shirt and was trying to pull it off with her struggling underneath him. The thought of what this man was about to do made me feel sick to my stomach. "HEY!" I yelled, startling both men into looking behind them. I felt my wings flap some, mostly a gesture that was meant to make me feel better about confronting these men alone.

"Frank!" the larger man said, shaking his head in my direction. 'Frank' was a little bit smaller, and you could tell from the way he looked that he was a nerd in high school, that is, if he ever graduated. Frank was quicker than I had expected him to be as he pulled out a knife and lunged forward, ready to slice and dice me. 'Okay, I think I can handle this...' I thought right before I kicked at his wrist the way Gr'Nadia had taught me that afternoon, minutes before patrol had started. The knife flew from his hand and clattered to the ground near me. I kicked it away from the both of us. Frank looked confused for a second, then shocked as he found himself falling with a hard thud to the ground with my kick to the chest. The other guy didn't seem to know what to do, so he just threw the woman with great force to the ground in his attempt to run away. I turned quickly to the woman.

"Are you-" I found myself on the ground, my face hitting hard on the sidewalk.

"That'll teach you to mind your own business FREAK." My blood boiled at being called that. Before he could kick me, I caught his foot and pushed him backwards, making him fall o his ass. I jumped up quickly, wiping at the small specks of blood on my cheek from the scrape. Unfortunately, he was up again as well. I stopped his punch to my face, twisted his wrist and held it firmly behind his back. I hit his shoulder blades hard with my palm and heard a sickening pop accompanied by a scream. I took out the rope tool and tied him up the best I could, somehow knowing I had used it the wrong way. The results didn't look as 'perty' as they had when the CGI Phantom Raven had done it on the explanation.

"That's MISS Freak to you, Asswipe." I hissed. I could tell that he was in pain, but I didn't care. Part of me wanted to laugh at him. 'How does it feel, huh? You like that?' I silently asked him before guilt took over me a little bit. 'I think I dislocated his shoulder…' I looked around, but Frank had taken off with the purse. "Shit." I silently wished that Batman had supplied me with more than just that one rope tool. Maybe I could have tied up Frank before Moby Dick tried to attack me. I walked slowly to the woman, whom after a second was recognized as Monica Hugh-Morrow, the girl who had told people about my sexuality in high school. She looked so scared that I couldn't even attempt to let myself get angry with her about that. Besides, how can I even think about bringing that up when wearing what I was? That would definitely tell her who I was beneath the mask.

I took a step towards her before I heard, "Did anyone order a crook?" I looked up and saw that the Huntress was dragging what looked like an unconscious Frank in one hand and Monica's purse in the other. She handed the purse to Monica and then set Frank next to the other guy. I walked over to Monica.

"Are you okay?" I asked her softly.

"I- You saved- M-Me." she stuttered, finally breaking down into tears.

"She'll be alright." Huntress said, seeing my confused and bewildered look.

"You live close?" I asked, knowing the answer already from the few times I went over there to 'study' with her in junior year.

"Y-" she said. Instead, she pointed in the direction of her apartment.

"Let me walk you home."

"Yeah, I'll take care of Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber here." Huntress agreed. I nodded, and then helped Monica up. Monica lived with her mother about 4 blocks away from where the fight had taken place. She didn't say anything on the walk towards her apartment, and she seemed surprised that I had known where it was. I was stupid enough to let my mind wander to the Huntress on the walk to Monica's apartment, which caused Monica's looks toward me go from frightened and confused to awe struck and curious. I stopped walking when we reached the main door to her apartment building.

"Thank you." Monica whispered. She reached for the key and then the dirty blonde disappeared. I turned to walk back to see how the Huntress was doing to see she was right behind me. I must have been deeper in thought than I realized.

"Shit, Huntress. You scared me." I informed her, which was actually the first thing that came to mind.

"I know, sorry 'bout that." 'Why does this feel like deja vu?' The thought vanished from my mind as I felt the Huntress' stares. There was something about her stares that always made me blush, and this time I had no hood to hide it. "So, where have you been? I thought you disappeared completely," she asked, turning from me and starting to walk down the sidewalk. I walked after her, thinking over my answer.

"I've been... around. Trying to become a better superhero. My last performance was to be laughed at." 'And frankly so was this one, though better it was. I guess you've gotta start somewhere.' I thought a little bitterly.

"You did and looked great then, and you did and looked even better tonight." She said. I smiled.

"Thanks." We were silent as we walked in shadow, this time knowing where I was going thanks to the night vision added to the mask.

"So how do you know Batman?"

"I don't know Batman." I said truthfully. I know OF him, and he'd gotten me the pretty new costume, but that was it. Huntress tossed me my rope tool, and I caught it with one hand. She stared at me hard, and then seemed to shake something off, a thought that didn't seem ton make any sense to her even though she wanted it to.

"Then why do all of your tools have the Bat symbol on them?" She asked.

"Christmas present from him and some British guy," recognition spread across her face, telling me she knew whom I was speaking of. "Yeah, if you talk to him regularly or something, tell him I said Hello and thanks. They helped a bunch... Same with the suit, never met the guy, but he sure seems to know who I am." I confessed. "I think after the robbery was when he started to keep tabs on me."

"So he knows who you are during the day?" She seemed to think things over a little bit.

"Yes." I said, wondering what was going through her mind. Her eyes flashed with curiosity, then moved up and down my body, I guess to check out the new suit. All that could be heard was my breathing for about a minute. She strutted closer to me and I knew what was to come. We were to finish what we'd started. We hadn't kissed for 10 seconds when it felt more right than anything, yet all I could think about was Helena. I slowly broke apart, and my heart slumped when I felt the Huntress lean in to try to recapture my lips. "I'm sorry. I- I can't." She looked confused. "It doesn't feel right in my heart." I said.

"You're lying." She accused.

"You're right, I am lying, but I feel as though I'm cheating on someone else and it isn't right for you or her for me to keep this up when I feel this way."

"Okay." I knew I hurt her, and that was the last thing I wanted to do, but I wasn't sure what a few kisses in a darkened ally with a masked woman could ever lead to.

"I'm sorry." I whispered. She nodded, turning away from me.

"Good night, Raven." she said, and she jumped to the roof of the nearest building which was 3 stories high, and she was gone. I sighed deeply; knowing that the only thing left to do was to go home. 'I hope things go okay with us in the future.' I think to myself as I make my way to my apartment. I lay in bed and thought of that night and of Helena and the Huntress. I thought about when I first met the Huntress and the night Helena had let me stay at her place for the night.

'Shit, you scared me.'

'I know, sorry.'

'Why does this feel like deejay vu?'

'Shit, Huntress! You scared me.'

'I know, sorry 'bout that...'

I shot up in bed. "OH MY GOD!" I said in a high-pitched voice. I hastily pushed hair from my eyes. "I can't believe you, Andrews! You turned down the hottest superhero in New Gotham for a bartender, and you didn't even know that they are the same person!"


	10. Chapter 9

FIC: Phantom Raven (9/?)

The Phantom Raven

By Erin Griffin

Rating: For now, PG

Pairing: Helena/ Gabby cuddliness

Disclaimer: I wish I did, but I don't own the Birds of Prey (otherwise there would be major subtext in every episode, heh heh heh heh heh...)

Summery: Born a Meta human herself, Gabby Andrews struggles to make sense of her gifts as she tries to make it in the real word. When a conversation is overheard, she is forced to put on a mask to hide her face as she goes out to save the day. She meets Huntress and a romantic adventure begins.

Author's Note: Dedicated as Always to Angel. Love ya' baby. This is a special gift to Dallas. Don't worry, Strapz is coming soon, I promise. That being said, please enjoy the story. I am sorry if these chapters seem short. (They seemed short even as I was writing them out.)

Thank you Rain. Big Hugs

Chapter 9

My revelation about Helena made me semi-paranoid as to whether or not she's figured out about me as the Phantom Raven... though thinking over the past few weeks, I have been thinking about dropping the Phantom part of my name, since everyone seems to like calling me Raven. If Helena did know about my true identity, she didn't let on that Saturday night when she came to my apartment and walked with me to the cab, where she opened the door for me. Something was off about her, though. She seemed as if her mind wasn't fully on the date, which I sort of understood, but it started to make me feel as if they (Helena and Dinah, who I'm starting to think is Canary) were just there undercover, and maybe Helena had only asked me there as a date to 'fit into the atmosphere' of the club as they tried to get to the bottom of the fights in the club. No, something was wrong with that theory. I know for a fact that Dinah wouldn't let Helena do that to me.

As silence thickened in the cab, I wanted to tell her that I am Raven, but I was too scared to tell her. Would she hate me because I turned her down? In all fairness, I had turned down the superhero for the actual person, the woman behind the mask. "So uh... Where's Dinah?" I asked Helena as we made are way (all too slowly in my opinion) to the club. She turned from the window where she stared absently and looked at me before she answered.

"She said she'd meet us at the club. She and Gibson left earlier."

"Oh." I said in barely a whisper.

"You look nice, Gabby." she said, but I didn't answer. In truth, I didn't spend hours in front of the mirrors trying out clothes as I had always thought I would when I thought of Helena asking me out on a date. I had gotten a call during work from Gr'Nadia (which was actually really funny, considering the fact that, come on, it's Gr'Nadia we're talking about) to come down to train, which left me with 45 minutes to catch a ride home, freshen up, and change from the sweater that hid the Raven suit to the black butterfly shirt that hid the Raven suit. I had just added perfume, a thumb ring, and a faerie necklace that I'd gotten from my mother years ago. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Hey, why is Dinah going with us? Not that I don't mind her coming with... It's just... I thought she was straight, and even if this is the only place that would let her in, she doesn't seem the type to just go to a gay/lesbian club because she wants to dance. Knowing Dinah, if she wanted to just dance, she'd pump up the techno station." I rambled. 'Oh kill me now...'

"She would... She's here with Gibson, since this will be his first time going, and he didn't want to check it out alone. Besides, she's hoping to score with a bi guy. I doubt it, but you never know." She repeated what she told me when she asked me to this dance party. I was hoping to get her off guard a little to see if she'd give me another reason for her coming along, but it didn't work.

"Are you?" I didn't mean for that to come from my lips, but it had, and I didn't actually understand what I was asking.

"Am I what?" 'Are you really the Huntress at night, or is my mind playing tricks on me?' My mind shouted.

"Are you bi?" I asked instead.

"Yeah." She said. I nodded in understanding, and then Helena's gaze went back out the window.

Club Rainbow looked packed. Correction: Club Rainbow WAS packed, with a large line to get in. Unfortunately for us, but I guess fortunately for the club owners, DJ Giggles' being on the news had been free advertising for the club. Helena and I got out of the cab and I followed Helena to the front of the line. I didn't hear what she said to the buff female bouncer, but it seemed to be the right thing because she'd let us inside, Helena grabbing my hand as she gently tugging me into the building. Apparently, the NGPD wasn't the only place where Helena had connections. Must come with the job... her other job. I have never been inside the club when other people where in it. I mean, when I had applied for the dish washing job, the only people there were the bartender, one of the 2 or 3 owners of the club, and Jenna, whom was there to talk to the bartender who was a friend of a friend. Looking around then, I saw what seemed like a balcony all around the room that overlooked the main dance floor. Helena seemed to know where she wanted to go, and she dragged me through the crowds of dancing bodies, with me trying not to hit anyone with my 'larger than a purse but smaller with a backpack' bag, which I carried everywhere now a days. Where I was to put it, I didn't know, but I had to bring my Raven costume with me (well the tools and the mask). We went up the stairs to this balcony and we watched people dancing for a while. When no one was looking, I gently tossed my bag in a darkened corner, hoping no one will take it. I knew I was being somewhat careless and totally risky with my costume, but I had no other choice at that time. After a while I was trying to spot Dinah, which was harder than a Where's Waldo book... Hey, they were an eyesore when I was a kid. I could NEVER find the guy!

Finally I spotted her. She was dancing with a guy already, and they seemed cozy. I'm guessing this other guy was Gibson. I pointed her out to Helena, who seemed to be looking for someone as well (it couldn't have been Dinah she was worried about at the moment, for she didn't seem to care much when I showed her where Dinah was). She grabbed my arm as we made our way to my best friend. When she saw me she immediately hugged me, earning us a couple of whistles from somewhere close (the whistles had to have been close, otherwise I wouldn't have heard it at all; Dinah was so damned close to the speakers). Helena and Dinah exchanged a few words in which I couldn't hear except for 'watch... hands', and then Helena introduced me to Gibson Kafka. 'Kafka... sounds Russian...' I think as I shake the other man's hand. He was Helena's age, and from the looks of it, they go back a little while. After the proper introductions, Helena and I found our own spot on the dance floor.

Helena's wandering eyes made it a little (okay, A LOT) harder for me to concentrate on the music, making my eyes dart around the room as well, mostly in DJ Giggles' direction. 'Something's not right with her.' I think to myself.

I notice that during the song she kept pumping the air four times, staring up in the balconies. I looked up and saw no one that seemed suspicious. After that song was over another came on. She pumped the air 3 times this time. 'Oh my god!' I thought after the pattern went on and she finally only pumped her arm once, then turning on a new song. Something's going to happen dur-

Suddenly a hand was on my arm. "I love this song." Helena said, pulling me to her. I listened for the music and it was unmistakable. It was a song called Burning by a band named Eros. This version, the bass line (though slower than the other songs played so far) was quicker than it was in the radio edit of the song, and it wasn't doing the song any justice in my opinion.

Throw my heart into the flames

Babe, I'm yearnin'

I'm burnin' for you

I know I'll never be the same

When I'm needin'

I'm bleedin' for you

Yes you.

Oh you...

I felt Helena hold me closer and our bodies melted into each other. I felt myself tense a little bit, not sure what to do. Was this a part of being under cover? 'I don't think I can fall much harder for you, Kyle.' I know Helena could sense my tension, because for a second she almost let go entirely. 'I might as well take what I can of this moment, even if she is only pretending.' I didn't know what to think, so in the end I just told myself not to...

... Turning my soul into ash

The fires of Hell sure makes a splash

Tell me where do I find the hatchet to get rid of this pain

I'd feel much better walkin' in acid rain

But I'd bare it for you...

'Cause I'm burning for...

You...

I had just found my head on Helena's shoulder when we were violently pushed into. "What the fuck!" Helena asked in rage to the guy who pushed past us. I saw her eyes flash, and whatever doubt I had over her being the Huntress was gone. It really was her. Well, I knew that, but still... part of me wanted to be wrong so badly. We both whipped around to see what was going on. People were forming a circle around... what, I couldn't see, but I had a pretty good guess what it was. The chanting clarified my thoughts on the circle.

"FIGHT!! FIGHT!! FIGHT!! FIGHT!!" The chant got louder as more people joined in. I turned to Helena to find she wasn't there beside me anymore. I searched around and just barely caught her eyes as she slipped into the girls' bathrooms, otherwise unnoticed. I pushed through the crowd and run up the stairs to look for my bag. Luckily it was safe, and hadn't been touched (I hope). I nudged my way through the crowd of people who were watching the fight, hearing a few rude comments in which I chose to ignore, and made my way to the bathrooms as well. There seemed to be no one there. I ran into a stall, and ripped off the outfit, revealing the Raven suit. I threw the outfit into my bag after I took out the tools, putting them in their rightful place on my belt. Then I hurriedly applied the lipstick and put on the mask, fixing my hair so that most of the strap was hidden. I jumped when I heard a gunshot. I ran out of the bathrooms and looked around for any sign of Helena/Huntress or Dinah/Canary. It was hard to see in the panic of the room. The gunshot had everyone in a frenzy to leave the building. I saw Gibson among them, leading the way out. I saw a man walk at a quickened pace towards the stairs, close to the place DJ Giggles kept glancing while she scratched, scribbled, upped the rhythm and slowed the tempo to today's hottest songs.

Following the man closely was Dinah. I followed after them and when I got to the top of the stairs I saw what looked like a large portrait of one of the founders of the club. It went from the floor to about 4 1/2 up the wall. It opened like a door, and I watched as this man went inside. Dinah forced her way, or at least it would seem that way if her hands were actually on the door. It looked as if the Hulk had taken an invisibility potion of some sort then ripped away at the portrait. I ran in after them just in time to see Dinah in a fight with the man, not much larger than Frank from a couple of nights before, but he seemed to have a brain in his head.

"Boss, I need reinforcements," he said into a walkie-talkie after he'd thrown Dinah across the room, which wasn't very big, about as big as my bedroom in my apartment.

"The others are outside. Some freaky broad is beatin' the shit outta them. I'll be up to help ya's in a minute."

"Hurry." he said, obviously ashamed that he was being beaten up by a girl half his age. Something was off. Something was telling me that Dinah had some sort of supernatural help. 'Well, DUH Andrews… She forced that door open without touching it. So what, is she a telekinetic?' When Gr'Nadia had shown me the video of the superheroes of the past, it never really specified some of the gifts they had. I know that some didn't even have powers… Like Batman, who seemed to just be some rich guy who took his comic book obsession to a whole new level. All I really knew were some of the powers that the Huntress has, and she's like some sort of half cat from what I've seen. Gr'Nadia never told me about Canary (well, Black Canary, but not Dinah) or her powers.

The man turned when he heard me approach them. "Hi!" I said cheerfully, giving a small wave with my right hand. "I would introduce myself but-" I used all of the strength I could muster in that right hand into one punch, earning me a crunch and a thud as he fell to the floor unconscious. "Ah-ha-ha..." I whimpered. "Hurts more than they make it seem on TV." I mutter. 'Which means I REALLY need to stop watching the damn thing.'

"Uh-" It was then that I remember that Dinah was in the room. I saw the look upon her face. She wasn't scared, but she wasn't amazed or anything like that either. She had the same look on her face that she'd give me if I told her that we were going to have a pop quiz or something. She wasn't amused one bit. "Who are you?" She asked, slowly picking herself up from the floor. I didn't answer her question, but instead I asked one of my own.

"What is in here that is wanted?" I surveyed the room, but it only seemed to have a bunch of briefcases stacked up on the farthest wall away from me.

"Not really WANTED. It's what's stashed here that's causing all the fuss. Weapons, computer bits, cash, jewelry..." She counted these things on her fingers; "They've been stashing this stuff while the rest of the club is distracted by the fight. One problem is, tonight something went wrong. They've been plotting against each other for the bigger share of the loot, plotting each other's deaths and whatnot. One of the fighters? Dead. The guy we knocked around? He killed him right there after he found out that he was next to die. It was either him or the other guy, I guess. Look, not even the owners know of this room- Shh! Oracle, I know she's trustworthy- IT"S THE PHANTOM RAVEN, ORACLE! You shoulda seen her punch out that guy..." She seemed annoyed with this Oracle person, but at the same time she shushed up, respecting their wishes.

"So, lemme guess... I've seen enough mob movies to know somewhat where this is going... They sell the stolen weapons and whatever to the black market in exchange for enough money to buy a bomb that will hold millions of people ransom until the government pays them billions more money that only Bill Gates seems to posses..." I went on. Dinah eyes were in a slight frown... "Okay, so maybe I've seen too many of these mob movies, but you get what I'm saying right?"

"Yes, they were going to sell these things to different buyers, then split the money and skidaddle out of New Gotham." She said. I nodded.

"I would ask you how you know all this stuff and who you work for, but I do not have time for much more of a chat. I have to find the Huntress and see if she's okay." Dinah nodded before I turned to leave.

"HEY!" I turned to watch Dinah's face. "Man, I'm glad you're on our side. You have plans for world domination that makes even the cruelest of crime lords weak in the knees. May I suggest cutting back on mob movies?" I grinned.

"You bet," I said, and then I turned and left the hidden room and glided down to the now mostly empty club. I ran out to where I heard the commotion and then I heard a couple more gunshots. 'HELENA!!' I thought in a panic. The first person I saw was DJ Giggles trying to hit the Huntress from behind as she single handedly took down two guys with one kick. On the ground near the fight was Gibson, and he looked dead from where I was, but then I saw him twitch, so I knew he was okay for now. I ran to the woman and tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned around, I took a shot at her, but she grabbed my arm and blocked my hit. I tried again a few times, then finally faked a punch and the kicked her instead. When she got up, DJ Giggles lunged and had me on the ground before I knew exactly what hit me (heh, no pun intended). Her fists felt like there were anvils in them, as if beneath the skin there was iron. I kicked her upper calves just as I had to Helena the first time I met her as Huntress. She fell pretty hard and I rolled away from her before getting up. Helena finished fighting her for me. There was a guy running off with two suitcases with whatever was inside, and I started to fly after him. I got to about 8 feet in the air before I was shot. The shock had stopped my wings from flapping, and I fell, hitting the ground pretty hard.

"RAVEN!" Helena- I mean Huntress called. I hear her boots as they carry her at top speed towards me. She kneels next to me and I feel a hand on my cheeks, brushing away all of the hair that had flown all over my face. 'WAIT! Where's my mask?!' There was a sharp intake of air, and then I heard "Gabby!" before it was black.


	11. Chapter 10

FIC: Phantom Raven (10/?)

The Phantom Raven

By Erin Griffin

Rating: For now, PG

Pairing: Helena/Gabby

Disclaimer: I wish I did, but I don't own the Birds of Prey (otherwise there would be major subtext in every episode, heh heh heh heh heh...).

Summery: Born a Meta human herself, Gabby Andrews struggles to make sense of her gifts as she tries to make it in the real word. When a conversation is overheard, she is forced to put on a mask to hide her face as she goes out to save the day. She meets Huntress and a romantic adventure begins.

Author's Note: Dedicated as Always to Angel. Love ya' baby. This is a special gift to Dallas. Don't worry, Strapz is coming soon, I promise. That being said, please enjoy the story. I am sorry if these chapters seem short. (They seemed short even as I was writing them out.)

Thanks Rain for all your help. I made a few changes after you sent it back, so whatever looks funky is all my doing. You did a great job.

Chapter 10

"... wake up soon, Huntress, she just fainted from shock. I mean, she's probably never been shot before." I heard a voice say.

"No shit... Well, she has, but her wings saved us, remember Barbara?"

'Barbara? Miss Gordon?! Why is she here? If I'm dreaming, why would I be dreaming of her?' I asked myself. It registered in my mind that I was laying mostly on my left side, my shoulder in the air.

"Yes, I remember. She was lucky it went right through. Go keep Dinah company. She'll be alright, go." My ex English teacher of 2 and a half years said in a whisper. I felt a couple of fingers pat around my shoulder. I hadn't felt anything until the fingers touched me. I let out a whimper of pain. "Shh," she said as I tried to push the hand away. I opened my eyes and saw that it actually was Miss Gordon. Perhaps she was the Oracle figure that Dinah was talking to. She was at the moment changing my bandage on my shoulder where I'd been shot. She was right; I didn't feel a bullet in my skin. There was another hole on the back of my shoulder. Miss Gordon became a little gentler as she worked. When she was finished, she stared at me and I did the same to her, but I was too confused and a little scared to speak. Finally she left, coming back a couple of minutes later with a glass of water and a couple of pills. "Here, take these. It will help make you feel better." I nodded slightly as she gently helped me sit up long enough to guzzle down the pills with the water. "There you go."

"Where am I?" I finally ask, knowing I wasn't in the hospital; otherwise Barbara wouldn't be the first person I'd see. Miss Gordon was silent for a minute, and then smiled reassuringly.

"You're safe," was all she said, brushing back some of my hair.

"That t-tells me nothing of location." She chuckled.

"I promise to tell you all you need to know when things settle down. Try to get some rest, and we'll talk later." she said. She wheeled out of the room and I was alone. I didn't like being alone in this place, wherever I was. My mind ran wild with the possibilities of where we could be, but all I could think of were a space station (ruled out), the Batcave (possible, but where the Hell is Batman?), Some underground lair that is only accessible by sewers (Huntress doesn't seem like one to ever want to go near a sewer), Empire State Building (too far away), Miss Gordon's house (seems too big for a house bought with a teacher's salary)... The list went on. After a while, these thoughts or perhaps whatever it was that Miss Gordon had given me were making me sleepy and I finally drifted off to sleep.

When I woke up, it was daylight. Actually, it looked as if the day was almost over. I must have slept the day away. I was now flat on my back, but my shoulder felt numb. I was aware of my left hand being warmer than normal, and it felt heavy. Someone was holding it. I moved my head and saw it was Helena. I say Helena because her mask was off, her hair was wet and slicked back (not spiked), and her leather was gone, and was instead wearing a sweatshirt and matching sweat pants (white). No one would have ever guessed that she dodged bullets, stopped robberies, and saves New Gotham in her spare time. "How do you feel?" she asked, and it was hard to tell what she was thinking by her tone. She sounded a little bit of everything: hurt angry, sad, relieved, and happy all at once.

"Better. Or at least... better now that I can thin a little more clearly," I said slowly, unsure really what to say to her. "Why didn't you just take me to the hospital?" She looked down.

"Your wings were stretched out, you were wearing leather and rubber not unlike Batman's costume, you're Meta, so who knows what they would have done if they found your blood wasn't normal... Must I go on?" she asked. I pulled my hand away from hers.

"No, I guess not." I whispered. Her hands both enveloped my left hand again, and my heart thudded with her touch.

"Why didn't you tell me that you are Raven?" she asked, her voice softening.

"For the same reason you never told me that Helena Kyle is the Huntress." I replied.

"But I never told you that, yet still you knew." she said.

"I sorta figured it out."

"When?"

"Later that night... when I told the Huntress that I loved someone else. Little did I know that she was right there under the mask," I said, looking down.

"You mean it was... me?" she asked, as if she didn't believe me. I suddenly looked up into her eyes.

"Yeah! I mean... God, I've liked you since high school when you used to drag Dinah back there kicking and screaming. And I'd thought I was dreaming when it seemed you were taking an interest in me-" Before I could finish that sentence, her lips had found mine. I responded immediately, wanting to feel these lips since we'd last met. One of her hands ran through my hair, her fingernails lightly scraping my scalp. I'm not sure how long this kiss lasted, but it wasn't long enough.

"Eh-heh-hem!" We broke apart then. "I don't care what Marvin Gay says, I doubt Gabby needs 'sexual healing'." It was Dinah talking. I tried not to blush, but it wasn't working. I hid my face on Helena's shoulder so Dinah didn't see it.

"Are those my leather pants?" Helena' question made me look up. Indeed, Dinah was wearing the same leather pants I first saw Helena in the first time she had to drag Dinah back to New Gotham High School after she skipped her first 4th period.

"Yeah." She said with a shrug as if she didn't give a damn. "You know the rule, you leave your shit around the Clocktower, I get free reign over them."

"Yeah, well I'll 'free reign' your-"

"Children! Take that elsewhere." came authoritative voice I knew so well from the days of being in the same English class as Mark 'Oreo' McGriff, AKA the class of 2005's class clown.

"Miss Gordon?" I asked.

"Barbara. Please... Call me Barbara here."

"I-I'm so used to calling you Miss Gordon, so it will take me a while before I get used to calling you just Barbara. Besides...Where's 'here'?"

"You're in the New Gotham Clocktower." Miss Gordon said.

"Yup, the new and improved secret lair." Dinah said. I didn't say anything. I was thinking over the links between these three women and what I knew about superheroes. It was certain to me now that Canary was Dinah. It was actually a surprise to me that I hadn't figured it out before. During the course of our friendship, there have always been times where Dinah had to leave abruptly from a movie or from my house after I'd see her touching her ear. It was then I realized that her jewelry was the same as what Huntress wore... what Helena wears. Thinking back, I would hear or read about a robbery stopped or a murder mystery solved thanks to a couple of unknown vigilantes. It shouldn't surprise me, I mean, Dinah did know so much about these superheroes.

'B.J Gordon... I thought Gr'Nadia was talking about a man.' I thought.

"If you don't mind me asking, what is your middle name, Miss Gordon?" I asked, curious as to know what the J stood for.

"Uh, Joanne. Why?"

"My... my trainer says 'Hi' then." She didn't say anything at first.

"Gr'Nadia." She said in not a question, but a statement. "She's still in use then?" She asked.

"Well, someone updated her and she's helped me out a lot, and talks about her creator constantly when in converse mode," I told her. I must be insane. I'm talking about her as if she was real. It's almost like talking to inanimate objects, but then, Gr'Nadia isn't really.

"I created her a while back before my injury to originally train myself a little better, but after I got into the chair and adopted Helena, I finished her to train Helena in areas I could not."

"She annoyed me though, and I knocked her to the point of malfunctioning, which means-"

"Which means she was repaired." Miss Gordon cut in.

"By Batman." I finished. They all looked at me as if I was insane. "What? He watches over the city one-way or the other. How else do you think I acquired his tools?" I asked. "Or maybe it was that other guy." I shrugged. It was silent for quite a while as everyone fell into their own thoughts. "So uh... Do the three of you have a team name that you all call each other, like The Justice League or Teen Titans did?" I asked, looking around at them.

"Yes, the FOUR of us do." Dinah corrected. Barbara shot her a LOOK, and Dinah shut up immediately. I guess Barbara was the only one Dinah cowers from when glared at.

"Alfred likes to call us the Birds of Prey." Helena supplied.

"Why?" I asked. I looked over to my best friend once again. She shrugged.

"I guess it's a British thing."

"Oh." I said as Helena started to laugh. I knew I was missing some inside joke. If I ever joined them (I kept hoping that one day I would be working with Huntress) I knew I would be left out of many inside jokes. "Uh, who is Alfred?" I finally asked.

"That would be me," I heard a familiar voice and I knew instantly that he was the man I heard on the video I got for Christmas. As the recognition spread across my face, Alfred (an elderly man wearing a tux and holding a tray with a tea kettle and 4 teacups) smiled warmly at me. I smiled back. "It is sure nice to finally meet you, Gabby." He said, handing us all a teacup. Everyone but Helena took one.

"Wonderful to meet you as well." I said, not sure if I should ask about the whereabouts of Batman.

After everyone had their tea, Barbara took my temperature and changed my bandage again, even though there wasn't any blood on it. Then she left, and Helena had to go too, saying she had to go to work. I took a mental note to call Jenna when I could to tell her that I can't come in for a couple of days, though looking at my wound when Barbara changed my bandage a few minutes earlier, it seemed as if I'd heal a little faster than the people on TV do... in fact, the scrape on my face from falling after the gunshot was almost nonexistent. Dinah stared at me for a little bit. "What?" I asked, feeling a little uncomfortable under her gaze.

"My best friend, a superhero, huh?"

"I should be saying the same thing." I countered.

She shook her head as if to say 'True, true'. "When?"

"When what? When did I start being a superhero or when did I find out I am Meta?" I asked. Dinah shrugged.

"I sorta know when you became a superhero. When did your powers start to show?" she asked.

"As far as I know, they started when I was nine." I looked at her curiously.

"I started having weird dreams when I was 8 or nine as well. It's weird, Helena didn't start showing signs of her Meta human abilities until after her life was altered, and Gibson always had his power, even if it isn't an active power." She said. She chuckled. "Mob movies… I should have known it was you right then."

Yeah, well, I was tempted to respond to the word 'skidaddle' I mean, come on, who says that word anymore?

"I do."

"You and about 2 others…" I mutter, grinning when she glared my way.

"Anyway, though Gr'Nadia must be a great trainer, I hope you start to train with Helena and me. It would be nice to finally be able to kick someone's ass." She said after a while.

"Thanks." I said dryly.

"I mean, it would be GREAT having you around and not having to keep secrets from you and have it be like a real friendship, no lies, no secrets... But at the same time, one can get tired of never winning a fight."

"How do you think I will feel?" I ask, pretending to be hurt. She grinned. "Besides," I continue as I shift a little, "Doesn't it really only count out there? When you fight the bad guys?" I asked.

"Yeah, yeah." She said.

"Well, when I get better, I will try to take it easy on you."

"You are in no position to be challenging me. In the classroom you may have been my superior, but in that training room... I'll whoop you." She declared.

"Okay okay... But that doesn't mean I won't try."

"I won't be expecting anything less from you, Andrews." she kissed the top of my head. "Get better soon," she said before leaving. It seemed like these women (plus Alfred) had a pretty nice system going. If Miss Gordon said it was okay, I would love to join them as a- what had Helena said Alfred called them... Birds of Prey- I would love to join them. They seemed to make a cozy little family. Though Miss Gordon was a very nice person (obviously... look at my shoulder...), she still seemed like the alpha female of the trio, and well, working with her as a superhero would just seem odd. Still, I guess we'll see how things go.


	12. Epilogue

FIC: Phantom Raven (Epilogue)

The Phantom Raven

By Erin Griffin

Rating: For now, PG

Pairing: Helena/Gabby

Disclaimer: I wish I did, but I don't own the Birds of Prey (otherwise there would be major subtext in every episode, heh heh heh heh heh...).

Summery: Born a Meta human herself, Gabby Andrews struggles to make sense of her gifts as she tries to make it in the real word. When a conversation is overheard, she is forced to put on a mask to hide her face as she goes out to save the day. She meets Huntress and a romantic adventure begins.

Author's Note: Dedicated as Always to Angel. Love ya' baby. This is a special gift to Dallas. Don't worry, Strapz is coming soon, I promise. That being said, please enjoy the story. I am sorry if these chapters seem short. (They seemed short even as I was writing them out.)

Epilogue

I've been flying for how long? Two? Three hours? There's too much to think about. Too much on my mind. But everything all comes down to one thing. I'm a murderer. I killed a man, and it doesn't matter that it was an accident. I've been one of the Birds of Prey for a couple of years now (thanks to Barbara coming into the room in which I was recovering in after I was fully healed saying 'You'll start a real training session with Dinah tomorrow').

Dinah had become a camp counselor for a day camp and noticed a couple of her children (a brother and a sister) acted in a way that caused concern. Barbara did a background check on them to find that they (the children and their siblings) were always in and out of the hospital. The blood samples from the children proved they were Meta. Turns out that the dad was scum, just barely taking care of the Meta children after the mother was mysteriously killed. We went on a mission, the three of us with Oracle in our ear guiding our way, to their house and tried to see what powers the children had and to see for ourselves what the father was like when no one was looking, since he had a record almost like a saint except for a few parking tickets as a teenager. We were caught, and the father was angry, going after both the children (whom Dinah and I were protecting) and us. I'd spread my wings out to protect the kids from the dad and a FEATHER shot from the inside of my wings and hit him like I'd thrown a knife at him. That was the first time that had happened. It'd only happened twice since then.

I landed with a soft tap on the balcony to the apartment Helena and I now share. It was a brand new thing, us only living there for a couple of months. As always, the sliding door was unlocked, but I did not go inside. I instead watched the moon and listened for something- anything, not wanting to bring my troubles inside with me. I heard the door slide open. "Are you okay, Gabby?" Helena asked. I slowly let my wings retract. I shook my head. "Is it still about Joe Keller?"

"It's always about Joe Keller." I responded in a monotone.

"Baby," I felt her arm slide around my waist, "It was an accident." I said nothing as I thought it over. 'Then why was my first reaction almost glad that I'd done it?' I felt relieved that it was him and not anyone else, but he didn't deserve to die. He might have been scum, but he shouldn't have died. I felt Helena's chin on my shoulder after she kissed the crook of my neck. I leaned into her. 'How can I ever deserve her? Murderers don't deserve the love of Helena Kyle.' As if to hear my thoughts, her hold on me strengthened and she repeated, "It was an accident." We were silent for quite sometime. Suddenly she withdrew, and I shivered from her absence. "Come to bed. You know I can't sleep without you beside me," she whispered.

"Well, then who am I to deny my baby her beauty sleep?" I turned around and smiled, before I caught her eyes and she held my gaze. I touched her face lightly and she leaned into my touch, not breaking the eye contact. "You must have slept a thousand years before you ever met me. You're the most beautiful being I've ever seen." I murmured. 'Since when am I a poet?' I think quickly. For the first time in a long time, I had made Helena blush at my comment. She grabbed my hand and dragged me inside. We both stripped down and shared the warmth of each other.

"We'll be okay, Gabs." She mumbles in my ear not long before she drifts off to sleep. I lay in the dark listening to the city sounds I'd never noticed in my teens thinking 'She always says that, and I'll always believe her.'


End file.
